As was reported across Kansas this week, state Republican leaders just took the first official step to force a mid-decade redistricting — with one goal: silencing Kansas voters to unseat Representative Sharice Davids (D-KS-03).
At a GOP retreat this weekend, party leaders circulated a petition to call a special legislative session. If they get enough signatures, the session could start as soon as November 7. Their plan? Split up Johnson County, despite promising they wouldn’t, and gerrymander the maps all over again.
This comes directly at President Donald Trump’s urging — part of his nationwide push to secure a House majority by overturning the will of voters. Kansans see this for what it is: a political power grab that will raise costs, weaken health care, and put politicians ahead of families.
Davids, who recently called out state legislators for hiding details from Kansans, has faced this fight before. Former Senate Majority Leader Susan Wagle said at the time, “I guarantee you we can draw four Republican congressional maps.” But after the 2022 gerrymander, which was designed to make Kansas’ Third District as Republican-friendly as possible, Davids won the election by 12 percent and was re-elected last year by double digits.
Read more in KCUR: Kansas Republicans start redistricting process aimed at unseating Rep. Sharice Davids, by Zane Irwin
“At an annual retreat on Saturday, state Rep. Mark Schreiber said party leaders distributed petitions to lawmakers to call a special session… The petition marks the first concrete steps Kansas has taken toward an unprecedented mid-decade redistricting process, where states gerrymander congressional districts off-schedule from the census.
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Command of the closely divided U.S. House of Representatives is at stake. Republican President Donald Trump has urged state lawmakers to secure a House GOP majority for the second half of his term.
Kansas’ last redistricting fight is still visible in the rearview mirror. Republican lawmakers overcame the governor’s veto and legal challenges to revise the map in 2022. The redraw was designed to weaken Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids’ hold on Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District.
Davids still won each of the following elections comfortably. But proponents of a Republican clean sweep in Kansas’ congressional delegation have at least one high-stakes option left: splitting up Johnson County into two or more congressional districts.
Davids told KCUR on Thursday that splitting up the state’s most populous and economically productive county would sever community relationships and lead to worse county services.
“This is such a clear political power grab,” she said.
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[Senate President Ty] Masterson is one of several GOP candidates running for Kansas governor in 2026 who publicly back redistricting. An endorsement by President Trump would boost any one of their campaigns.
But most Republican state lawmakers have been slow to come out for or against redistricting — especially those whose districts overlap with Johnson County.
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Multiple lawmakers told the Kansas News Service they expect redistricting to come up when Kansas Republicans visit the White House in October. Masterson has said he wants to call the special session in early November.”