The Missouri House has rejected the changes made to its redistricting map by the Senate, which on Wednesday took its own map and substituted it in the House bill before passing it.
The main sticking point appears to be how much of Jefferson County will fall into the rural southeastern Missouri congressional district.
State Representative John Diehl (R, Town and Country) sponsors the House version, which would place nearly 103,000 Jefferson County residents into the GOP-leaning 8th district.
“Just as the Senate has members that (don't) like certain things about our map, we have members that don’t like certain things about the Senate map," Diehl said. "I think the way that you go through and you approach those problems and issues is to go to conference.”
The version passed by the Missouri Senate on Wednesday would only place about 42,000 Jefferson County residents into the 8th Congressional District, which is currently represented by Republican Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson.
Meanwhile, some legislative leaders say they want a redistricting map passed early enough so that if Governor Jay Nixon (D) were to veto it, the legislature could attempt an override before the end of the regular session.
