Effort By Lawmakers To Redraw Congressional Districts In Purple State Hits Roadblock | JP
The top Republican in the Kansas House of Representatives has dropped an effort to redraw the state’s congressional districts.
Kansas Republican lawmakers failed to gather enough support to call a special session for redistricting.
However, the redistricting battle in the Sunflower State is not over.
According to reports, Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson said redistricting would be “a top priority when the Legislature reconvenes in January.”
“We’re not backing down, and we’re not sitting out of this fight,” he added.
Report: Kansas Republicans are still planning on doing Redistricting for 2026
Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson (@TyMastersonKS) has vowed that redistricting is: “A top priority when the Legislature reconvenes in January.” pic.twitter.com/0HawCq7c68
— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) November 5, 2025
More from The Topeka Capital-Journal:
House Speaker Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, suggested there will be “a conversation about redistricting” when the lawmakers return to Topeka for the 2026 legislative session.
“Even though they failed to force this special session, we know that this fight is not over,” said U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas.
She said the November 2025 election results nationwide, which favored Democrats, has Republicans in Washington, D.C., “panicking.”
“They’re going to stop at nothing to tighten their grip on Kansas,” Davids said. “They’re going to take another run at this in January, another attempt to carve up Johnson County to redraw maps that voters never asked for all to protect their own political power.”
The openly partisan mid-decade redistricting was kicked off by President Donald Trump ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. It started in Texas and spread to both red states and blue states.
While the Kansas Senate had enough signed petitions to call a special session scheduled to start Nov. 7, there were enough holdouts in the Kansas House to block the effort. Republican legislative leaders had spent weeks circulating the petitions.
Kansas currently has three Republicans and one Democrat in its congressional delegation.
It’s believed a new congressional map in Kansas will increase the odds of flipping the lone Democrat seat to Republican.
Another State Prepares For Congressional Redistricting Special Session
The Associated Press shared further info:
The Kansas constitution allowed Republicans to bypass Kelly’s refusal to call a special session by having two-thirds of the members of both chambers sign a petition. The GOP has the necessary supermajorities in both chambers, and enough GOP senators were on board, but a few House Republicans would not sign.
Some GOP critics opposed a mid-decade redistricting, while others feared that changes could make the three other Republican-held districts more competitive for Democrats.
“Planning a Special Session is always going to be an uphill battle with multiple agendas, scheduling conflicts and many unseen factors at play,” Hawkins said in a statement.
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