A recent Kansas City Star report reveals that this fall, Kansas Republican leaders spent $43,000 on redistricting software, support, and training — all before a planned special session even fell through. The ongoing effort, driven by extreme D.C. special interests, is aimed at redrawing congressional maps mid-decade to unseat Representative Sharice Davids (D-KS-03).

Davids condemned the use of taxpayer dollars for a secretive redistricting push, saying: “It’s outrageous that politicians in Topeka secretly used Kansans’ hard-earned tax dollars to silence the very people footing the bill — all for a map folks haven’t seen and a process they’ve been cut out of… No matter what these politicians assume, Kansans won’t blindly follow a scheme designed by Washington extremists to cheat the system and protect one party’s power.”

Last month, Republican leaders in Topeka fell short in their first attempt to call a special session to gerrymander Kansas’ congressional maps, but GOP politicians in Topeka have vowed to try again when the Legislature reconvenes in January. Senate President Ty Masterson called redistricting “a top priority,” and House Speaker Dan Hawkins said Republicans still “wish to have a conversation about redistricting.”

Masterson again tried to distance himself from the process, saying, “I’m not drawing the map.” He noted that “a national drawing outfit” would develop the map “from a federal perspective” — leaving open the possibility that extreme voices with no connection to Kansas could decide who represents Kansans.

Read more: Kansas spent thousands on redistricting tool before special session was rejected, by Matthew Kelly

• “Kansas [legislators] purchased tens of thousands of dollars worth of redistricting software, support and training this fall before plans for a November special session fell through.”

• “The purchase came as GOP leaders worked to drum up support for a special session aimed at gerrymandering U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids — the lone Democrat and non-white member of Kansas’ congressional delegation — out of office.”

• “Hawkins and Masterson have repeatedly stressed their intention to move forward with redistricting, even as it remains unclear whether they will have the votes to overcome Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s all-but-certain veto of a new map.”

• “Davids’ margin of victory notably increased in the 3rd Congressional District after Kansas’ last redistricting fight in 2022, despite Republicans’ controversial decision to split the Democratic stronghold of Wyandotte County in half to tip the advantage in their favor.”

• “Masterson… — actively courting a Trump endorsement — previously suggested he would not play a hands-on role in creating a map designed to maximize his party’s odds of maintaining its slim majority in the U.S. House… Pressed on who would be responsible for furnishing it, Masterson responded, ‘Probably a national drawing outfit that’s working on it from a federal perspective. It’s a federal map.’”