Political map changes

The Republican redistricting world suffered double blows this week, as their Utah measure to legalize partisan gerrymandering failed to qualify for the ballot and a pro-voter challenge to their gerrymander in Missouri cleared a major milestone.

Meanwhile, we continue to monitor the two states with active redistricting plans in the works. In Virginia, voters are currently casting ballots in a special election that could secure four more Democratic seats in Congress. And in Florida, Republicans are preparing to redraw maps next month.

  Democracy Docket

And Democrats flipped two red seats in Florida just a few days ago.

Missouri hasn't been putting out any good news

It has taken nearly a decade for St. Louis’ Civilian Oversight Board to find the footing needed to effectively investigate police misconduct and give residents the tools to hold police accountable, says board member Keith Rose. The city established the board in the years following the Black Lives Matter protests in nearby Ferguson, where grassroots organizers amplified calls to end police violence. But the board faced obstacles at every turn, from legal battles with police unions to the police department’s refusal to cooperate with investigations.

[...]

But the state of Missouri is poised to wreck community oversight over policing in St. Louis. Governor Mike Kehoe on Wednesday signed a bill that ends the city’s ability to run its own police department, transferring control to the GOP-run state government.Going forward, the department will be led by a board mostly appointed by the Republican governor. The new law, which passed with the support of police unions, also requires St. Louis to commit 25 percent of its budget to policing by 2028.

  Bolts

They can pay for it, but they can't run it. What a deal.

There goes Missouri

 

The GOP’s newly approved congressional map fractures Kansas City’s 5th District by splitting apart Black communities and absorbing them into far-flung Republican-leaning districts. If allowed to take effect, it would eliminate one of Missouri’s two districts reliably held by Democrats, making it far harder for Black and Democratic voters to achieve representation.

“I was proud to officially sign the Missouri First Map into law today ahead of the 2026 midterm election,” Kehoe said after signing the bill. “I appreciate the support and efforts of state legislators, our congressional delegation, and President Trump in getting this map to my desk.”

[...]

“The map was pushed through in such a slapdash and rushed manner that the bill text double assigns one Kansas City precinct to two different congressional districts, creating a map that is malapportioned and/or noncontiguous.”

Kehoe has denied the map has any errors, saying he’ll “let the courts decide that.”

Republicans also used the session to dismantle the state’s century-old initiative petition process, gutting voters’ ability to check legislative power.

By requiring amendments to win not just a statewide majority but also a majority in every congressional district, the measure would give a handful of deep-red districts veto power over the entire state.

  Democracy Docket

They can't win if they don't cheat.

Lawsuits have been filed.

 

Fighting back in Missouri

 

Coming to a town near you

 

MAGA regrets

 

Also...

UPDATE 06/03/2025:

Kennett is a small town. It’s the biggest population center in Dunklin County—and the entire county only has 28,000 people in it. Of those, 10,075 souls participated in the 2024 presidential election. You can guess whom they preferred: 80.4 percent of the good people of Dunklin County voted for Donald J. Trump.

Who, you may remember, campaigned primarily on two things: Enacting tariffs and deporting 20 million immigrants.

  The Bulwark

But not THEIR immigrants.

Way to go, Rolla!

 

You can't win

 You can't break even. And you can't get out of the game.

It has taken nearly a decade for St. Louis’ Civilian Oversight Board to find the footing needed to effectively investigate police misconduct and give residents the tools to hold police accountable, says board member Keith Rose. The city established the board in the years following the Black Lives Matter protests in nearby Ferguson, where grassroots organizers amplified calls to end police violence. But the board faced obstacles at every turn, from legal battles with police unions to the police department’s refusal to cooperate with investigations.

“It feels like we only just now got to the place where we have a path to do the work, after delays from lawsuits and police noncooperation. It finally feels like the board is ready to do the work,” Rose told Bolts.

But the state of Missouri is poised to wreck community oversight over policing in St. Louis. Governor Mike Kehoe on Wednesday signed a bill that ends the city’s ability to run its own police department, transferring control to the GOP-run state government. Going forward, the department will be led by a board mostly appointed by the Republican governor.

[...]

There is a dark precedent for Missouri state officials seizing control of law enforcement in this city. On the eve of the Civil War, a secessionist governor took over the local police, worried that the city may otherwise resist his hopes of having Missouri join the Confederacy. He proceeded to pack the new state-run board with secessionist members.

[...]

This state control then remained in place for well over 150 years. Only in 2012 did 64 percent of Missourians approve a measure to let St. Louis, which has a large Black population, run its own police force. The new law overrides that reform, returning control to the state leadership, which is largely white.

[...]

In signing the bill on Wednesday, Kehoe argued that the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department will still be run locally because the commissioners he appoints will have to be residents of the city.

  Bolts Magazine

White nationalist residents, and perhaps one black "Uncle Tom". Yes, I know that's offensive. MAGA

Missouri pulling up

 

Post collecting similar incidents of constituent backlash

Missouri gets worse

 And it's already very bad.

#1) This is outrageous; 

#2) Just who decides/how do they determine which expectant mothers are "at risk for seeking an abortion."

American justice

Missouri abortion measure update

Hallelujah.

Un fucking believable

A Missouri judge has ruled that a ballot measure asking voters whether abortion rights should be enshrined in the state constitution is invalid, potentially jeopardizing an election scheduled for November.

Under amendment 3, Missourians would be granted the constitutional right to an abortion up until fetal viability, in addition to protections surrounding other reproductive healthcare needs such as birth control and in vitro fertilization. The amendment would also provide protections against criminal prosecution for individuals who assist with abortions.

[...]

In a ruling issued on Friday, Cole county circuit judge Christopher Limbaugh said that the reproductive rights petition – also known as amendment 3 – led by Missourians for Constitutional Freedom did not comply with state law.

Abortion rights activists are hopeful an appellate court could reverse Limbaugh’s decision, but for now it remains unclear whether voters will be able to decide the issue as scheduled on 5 November, the same day as the presidential election.

[...]

Limbaugh, however, also said he “recognizes the gravity of the unique issues involved in this case and the lack of direct precedent on point”. He ruled that he would wait until Tuesday for the amendment to be removed from the ballot, giving an appellate court time to decide whether or not to uphold his ruling.

  Guardian

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 09/10/2024:

Missouri still backsliding into MAGA swamp

Progressives suffered a major blow in Tuesday night’s primaries as Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) became the second “squad” member to lose to a challenger this cycle.

Coming just hours after Vice President Harris announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate in a move seen as a win for the progressive wing of the party, Bush’s loss put internal party frictions over the Israel-Hamas war on full display.

[...]

Bush’s defeat [to St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell] makes her the second member of the squad to lose reelection after Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D) lost his seat in New York earlier this year. [O]ther high-profile members, like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) are likely to win reelection handily. And another progressive, Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.), won her primary challenge earlier this year despite being outspent.

  The Kill

Maybe it's more about Missourians than progressives.

AIPAC’s super PAC spent big to unseat her in the primary, reportedly throwing more than $8 million into the race.

The group’s opposition to Bush came in response to her vocal criticism of Israel’s war against the terrorist organization Hamas in Gaza.

She was one of just a few House members who opposed a resolution that expressed support for Israel last year, and when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress last month, Bush called it “sickening that Congress gave him a standing ovation.”

I agree with Bush.

Meanwhile in Kansas...

Johnson County Sheriff Calvin Hayden kickstarted an investigation after the 2020 election, despite claims from local officials that there was no widespread fraud, as reported by The Associated Press.

Hayden paused the investigation last month after producing no criminal charges and stoking suspicion toward state and local election systems.

[...]

On Tuesday, Hayden appeared headed for defeat in his GOP primary to Republican Doug Bedford, a former U.S. Navy SEAL who served as Hayden’s undersheriff from 2017 to 2021. He’ll face Democrat Byron Roberson, the police chief of Prairie Village, in the fall.

The incumbent’s likely defeat comes after he ran unopposed four years earlier, and signals divisions among Republicans in the state surrounding claims of election fraud.

Former President Trump has refused to commit to accepting 2024 results and has continued to tout his debunked claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, while some in the party have pressed fellow Republicans to move on from the last cycle.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 07:53 am:

UPDATE 02:16 pm:

Bush said in a fiery speech after her loss that leaving Congress will only “takes some strings off.”

“Because now, there are some strings that I have attached. And as much as I love my job, all they did was radicalize me, and now they should be afraid,” she said.

“They’re about to see this other Cori, this other side,” she continued. “There is nothing that happens in my life that happens in vain. So, this happened because it was meant to happen. And let me say, it’s because of the work that I need to do.”

“And let me say this: AIPAC, I’m coming to tear your kingdom down!” she added to cheers.

  The Hill

Well.

Denied

Speaking of prisons...

For the second time in weeks, a Missouri prison has ignored a court order to release an inmate whose murder conviction was overturned. Just as in the case of Sandra Hemme, actions by the state’s attorney general are keeping Christopher Dunn locked up.

St. Louis Circuit Judge Jason Sengheiser on Monday tossed out Dunn’s conviction for a 1990 killing. Dunn, 52, has spent 33 years behind bars, and he remained Tuesday at the state prison in Licking.

Dunn wasn’t released after his conviction was overturned because Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey appealed the judge’s ruling, “and we’re awaiting the outcome of that legal action,” Missouri Department of Corrections spokeswoman Karen Pojmann said in an email Tuesday.

  AP

So, he could be wrongly imprisoned for a lot longer.

“In our view, the judge’s order was very clear, ordering his immediate release,” [St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe] Gore said at a news conference Tuesday. “Based on that, we are considering what approach and what legal options we have to obtain Mr. Dunn’s relief.”

Missouri AG bullshit

Missouri filed a lawsuit against the state of New York on Wednesday seeking to lift the gag order imposed against former President Trump during his hush money trial.

[...]

“I will not sit idly by while Soros-backed prosecutors hold Missouri voters hostage in this presidential election. I am filing suit to ensure every Missourian can exercise their right to hear from and vote for their preferred presidential candidate,” Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R) wrote in a statement to The Hill.

  The Hill

Oh, for fuck sake.

Is he hoping to be a part of a Trump administration, or what? Trump's gag order does not prevent him from anything but attacking people involved in his trial. And even if it prevented him from saying anything at all about anything at all, nobody believes Missouri voters are waiting to hear from him before they vote.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Make women chattel again

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Democracy on the run

The move by Republicans comes as the state could see a historic abortion rights amendment on the ballot this November. Republicans in the state see changing the rules as the only way to defeat it, according to the Missouri Independent.

  Democracy Docket

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Missouri, WTF??!

Get a damned Democrat on the ballot, FFS!