State politicians were in St. Louis today to solicit public feedback on redrawing Missouri's congressional map from nine districts down to eight.
The outcome may mean a decrease in political clout for the metro region.
Of Missouri's nine districts the two with the smallest populations are the districts held by Democrats Lacy Clay and Russ Carnahan.
St. Louis State Senator Robin Wright Jones says that means consolidation among Metro districts is likely inevitable.
"I don't know how we can do it without losing one, because our urban districts have to pick up hundreds of thousands of people and we're just gonna have to draw the lines to meet the need the goal and the guidelines," Jones said.
That means spreading more urban Democrats among fewer districts-which would be good news for the GOP.
St. Louis Aldermanic President Louis Reed says the metro region is simply too important to have only two representatives.
"I think we need to keep three congressmen to represent the entire area," Reed said. " I think we need to look at this entire metro area in the right light-that it's an economic engine for the state of Missouri, any investment, any help we can give this area, we give the entire state."
The new maps will go to Governor Nixon for approval in mid May.
