Judge tosses Kansas GOP-drawn congressional map

A Kansas judge on Monday tossed out a GOP-drawn congressional map for the Sunflower State, ordering the legislature to draw up new lines ahead of the candidate filing deadline in June.

Wyandotte County District Judge Bill Klapper — who, according to The Associated Press, is an elected Democrat — said the redistricted lines were drawn to “intentionally and effectively” maximize a Republican advantage in the Kansas congressional delegation and ruled that the map diluted the voting power of minority communities in Wyandotte County.

“The Buddha says the only consistent thing in the universe is change. One does not have to be a Buddhist to realize change is always taking place. There is certainly opportunity to disagree about change, as in its speed, its direction, and its impact,” Klapper wrote in the ruling. “We must not be naïve enough to believe change can be prevented by suppressing its voice.”

The maps would have decreased Rep. Sharice Davids’s (D-Kansas) strong grip on the 3rd Congressional District by dividing Wyandotte County, which contains Kansas City, into two districts. Wyandotte and Johnson counties were the only two of Kansas’s five counties that President Biden won in the 2020 presidential election.

Davids is the only Democrat representing Kansas in the House.

The map rejected on Monday would have moved part of Wyandotte County into the neighboring 2nd Congressional District, which is represented by Rep. Jake LaTurner (R).

In exchange, Davids’s district would add parts of Miami County, which is conservative, and all of Franklin and Anderson counties. About two-thirds of the vote tallied in Miami and Franklin counties in the 2020 presidential election went for former President Trump. Trump won more than 75 percent of the vote in Anderson County.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) vetoed the map in February, arguing that the lines did not follow guidelines set forth by the courts and legislature regarding how to “fairly and constitutionally” draw lines in the state. The GOP-controlled Senate, however, overrode the veto in a 27-11 vote.

But then the map then became the target of three lawsuits, according to the AP, with plaintiffs including the voting rights group Loud Light and 20 voters from Kansas City and Lawrence. The legal action named Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab (R) and local elections officials as defendants.

Among the issues presented was that the redistricting wrongly split the Kansas City area, according to The Topeka Capital-Journal.

Klapper’s Monday ruling was in response to those three consolidated lawsuits, the AP noted.

Some Democrats said the proposed redistricting lines were an example of gerrymandering, while some Republicans called the ruling partisan because of Kapper’s Democratic affiliation, per the AP.

The Hill reached out to Kelly for comment.