The Missouri House has given first-round approval to a Republican-proposed map that would redraw the state’s congressional districts, reducing them from nine to eight.
It eliminates the St. Louis-area district currently held by Democrat Russ Carnahan.
The vote was a foregone conclusion, but still, some House Democrats tried to offer alternate maps. Mike Colona (D, St. Louis) sponsored one that would have instead merged two rural Republican districts together. The two are currently held by Blaine Luetkemeyer and Vicky Hartzler.
“In order to protect the interests not just of the St. Louis metropolitan economic engine, but really, the economic clout of the great state of Missouri, the metropolitan area should have three people in its congressional delegation,” Colona said.
Colona’s map was not adopted. A copy of it was not available at press time.
The GOP’s redistricting map needs one more House vote before moving to the Missouri Senate, where its redistricting committee has approved a similar map.
