A six-judge panel that redrew Missouri’s State House and Senate districts has made a few changes to the Senate map.
The original map had raised constitutional concerns because it divided rural Johnson County in western Missouri among two separate Senate districts. The county is represented in the Senate by Republican David Pearce of Warrensburg.“If your county is smaller than the number (of people) in a senatorial district, meaning about 176,000, they should not split a county in half," Pearce said. "They did that in Johnson County, [and] they did that in Cass County, which I also represent, so I think that was a mistake.”
The revised map released Friday restores all of Johnson County to the district represented by Pearce. Cass County was also restored to one district, although it will now be in a different district than the one Pearce is seeking re-election in. But the western third of rural Lafayette County has been added to a suburban Kansas City district.
