Another filibuster in the Missouri Senate may be brewing, this time over redistricting.
Majority Floor Leader Tom Dempsey (R, St. Charles) says he expects fellow GOP Senator Bill Stouffer (R, Napton) to try and block the redistricting map passed this week by the House, and possibly the Senate version as well.
“He’s told me he is," Dempsey said. "My understanding is he’s not the only person unhappy with the map coming out of the House…I’m not real excited about it myself.”
When asked, Stouffer would not confirm whether he’s planning a filibuster, but admitted he’s unhappy with the maps. Both House and Senate maps place his rural home county of Saline into the urban and heavily-Democratic Kansas City district.
“The first time I had heard some comments about possibly Ray and Lafayette and Johnson (counties), I never dreamed that Saline would be in that group,” Stouffer said.
When asked if he plans on offering an alternate map, Stouffer said: “Well, we’ll probably look at alternatives and see what we can come up with.”
Stouffer’s home county is in the GOP-heavy Fourth District, where he made an unsuccessful run for Congress last year.
Others in the Senate are unhappy with the House map because it moves a large portion of Democrat-leaning Jefferson County into the GOP-leaning rural southeast Missouri congressional district.
