Republican governor signs into law Trump-backed congressional redistricting map

Score another victory for President Donald Trump in the high-stakes political battle between Republicans and Democrats over congressional redistricting.

GOP Gov. Mike Kehoe of Missouri on Sunday signed into law a new congressional map, Missouri First, that is likely to hand Republicans an additional seat in the U.S. House of Representatives ahead of next year's midterms elections.

Missouri, once considered a swing state that has dramatically shifted to the right over the past decade and a half, is the latest battleground in the congressional redistricting showdown after the passage of new maps in GOP-dominated Texas and a redistricting push by Democrats in heavily blue California. 

"I was proud to officially sign the Missouri First Map into law today ahead of the 2026 midterm election," Kehoe said in a statement. "We believe this map best represents Missourians, and I appreciate the support and efforts of state legislators, our congressional delegation, and President Trump in getting this map to my desk."

TRUMP-BACKED REDISTRICTING PUSH TURNS MIDWESTERN STATE INTO NEXT POLITICAL BATTLEGROUND

Trump, in a social media statement following passage in the GOP-dominated state legislature, called the new map "FANTASTIC" and said it "will help send an additional MAGA Republican to Congress in the 2026 Midterm Elections."

The new map targets longtime Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver's Kansas City-area district by shifting it eastward to include rural right-leaning voters. The new map would likely flip Cleaver's seat and give Republicans a 7-1 advantage in the state's House delegation.

Cleaver has vowed to take legal action if the new map is signed into law by the governor.

"I want to warn all of us that if you fight fire with fire long enough, all you’re going to have left is ashes," Cleaver said earlier this month as he testified in front of a Missouri Senate committee.

And pointing to recent public opinion polling, he called the redistricting plan "immensely unpopular."

And Missouri House Minority Leader Ashley Aune accused Republicans of pushing to "rig our maps and eliminate our representation in Congress."

ABBOTT CLEARS FINAL REDISTRICTING HURDLE AS TEXAS SENATE PASSES NEW TRUMP-APPROVED MAP

Kehoe's announcement teeing up the special session came hours after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas signed into law a redistricting bill passed by the Republican supermajority in the state legislature that aims to create up to five right-leaning congressional districts at the expense of current Democrat-controlled seats in the reliably red state.

The efforts in Missouri and Texas are part of a broad effort by the GOP to pad its razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in the 2026 midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.

Trump and his political team are aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House, when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterm elections.

Democrats are fighting back against the rare, but not unheard-of mid-decade redistricting.

State lawmakers in heavily blue California have approved a special ballot proposition this November to obtain voter approval to temporarily sidetrack the state's nonpartisan redistricting commission and return the power to draw the congressional maps to the Democrat-dominated legislature.

The effort in California, which aims to create five more Democratic-leaning congressional districts and counter the shift in Texas, is being spearheaded by two-term Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is seen as a likely 2028 Democratic presidential contender.

With Democrats currently needing just a three-seat pickup in next year's midterms to win back the House majority, Republicans in Indiana, South Carolina, Florida, Kansas and Nebraska are mulling their own GOP-friendly redistricting plans ahead of the 2026 elections. And right-leaning Ohio is under a court order to draw new maps ahead of the midterms.

Democrats, as they push back, are looking to New York, Illinois and Maryland in the hopes of creating more left-leaning congressional seats.

In Illinois and Maryland, where governors J.B. Pritzker and Wes Moore are discussing redistricting, Democrats hope to pick up to three more left-leaning seats.

And Democrats could pick up a seat in Republican-dominated Utah, where a judge recently ordered the GOP-controlled legislature to draw new maps after ruling that lawmakers four years ago ignored an independent commission approved by voters to prevent partisan gerrymandering.