Gerrymandered map survives Missouri Supreme Court challenge

By Jason Hancock | Editor-in-Chief

Good morning,

On Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court gave Republicans the congressional map they wanted heading into a high-stakes election year — one designed to make Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver’s Kansas City-based seat far harder to hold. It also left referendum supporters trying to force a public vote on a map that is already shaping the election.

Missouri isn’t alone. Across the country, redistricting fights are moving into state courts as federal law becomes less hospitable terrain for voting-rights challenges.

Our first story today explains what the Missouri Supreme Court decided and what remains unresolved. The second looks at how similar fights are playing out elsewhere, with control of Congress hanging over every procedural dispute.

Also today: Missouri Education Commissioner Karla Eslinger is retiring after only two years on the job. She's leaving days before her first performance review was due, after a tenure that opened with a childcare subsidy crisis and ran through fights over accreditation, school accountability and a reshuffled State Board of Education.

by Rudi Keller

The unanimous rulings hand Republicans a legal victory in their push to use a new map aimed at unseating Kansas City Democrat Emanuel Cleaver

by Jonathon Shorman

After the U.S. Supreme Court’s late April decision sharply curtailing the use of race in redistricting, much of the legal fight over gerrymandering is moving to state courts.

by Annelise Hanshaw

Missouri’s top education official is stepping down after only two years, ending a tenure that began with a childcare subsidy crisis and never really found calmer ground.

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