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With the Missouri House set to gavel in Wednesday for the start of a special session called last week by Gov. Mike Kehoe, lawmakers surveyed by the Post-Dispatch said the state would not be facing the dilemma if blue states like Illinois and California had not already approved maps after the 2020 census that depress GOP representation in Congress.

“You think this is fun for us? They put us in this position to counter what they started,� Rep. Scott Cupps, R-Shell Knob, said Tuesday. “We didn’t ask for this fight, but here we are. As a state that has a majority that is very, very conservative, it is not our duty to make sure the minority has a voice.�

A Princeton University report on gerrymandering after the 2020 census, however, shows Republican states also drew maps with a heavy partisan bias, including Wisconsin, Iowa, Florida, Ohio and Utah.

Other Republicans sounded a more reluctant tone.

“I’m not real crazy about revisiting the maps. I really think we need to stick with when the census is done,� Rep. Bill Falkner, a Republican from St. Joseph, said Tuesday.

A handful said they are awaiting more clarification on the legal questions surrounding the proposal, but view keeping the U.S. House under GOP control as a plus.

“If this really is a way for President Trump to stay out of constant impeachment hearings … then I think it’s a worthy thing to study,� said Rep. John Voss, R-Cape Girardeau. “I just want our government to function.�

Trump wants Republican states to redraw their political boundary lines to favor GOP candidates in the mid-term elections in hopes of keeping the U.S. House in Republican hands next year.

His demand has set Missouri lawmakers scrambling. The House is likely to take up a new map in a committee Thursday, putting it in a position to be voted on early next week.

The Republican-controlled Senate will convene Sept. 10, the day typically set aside for the Legislature’s annual veto session. The Senate could take up the map soon after.

Protesters also are expected to gather at the Capitol Sept. 10, setting the stage for what could become a raucous session. In addition to altering congressional boundaries, Kehoe wants the General Assembly to make it harder for voters to change the Constitution via the citizen-led initiative petition process.

The move is in response to voters approving progressive ballot questions on legalizing marijuana, rejecting anti-union “right-to-work� laws and expanding Medicaid.

Kehoe’s plan would require ballot questions to be approved with a majority of voters statewide, as well as a majority in each of the eight congressional districts.

Groups are launching petition drives next week asking voters to counter any Republican-led changes, potentially resulting in dueling constitutional amendment questions on the 2026 ballot.

Missouri has eight U.S. House seats, two of which are held by Democrats. Kehoe’s proposed changes focus on the Kansas City-based 5th district, resulting in one additional GOP vote in the House for Trump’s policies.

The map would extend the 5th district from the Kansas border into mid-Missouri, including Maries and Osage counties.

That concept is similar to one floated during the last redistricting battle in 2022, that also aimed to make a 7-1 map. At the time, altering the 5th district was seen as too radical, given the state’s roughly 60-40 Republican tilt.

Democrats say the boundaries put forward by Kehoe last week are unfair.

“The maps that Gov. Kehoe has released, that are absolutely Trump maps, are incredibly frustrating. Folks in rural Boone County don’t want the same representation as folks in urban Jackson County,� House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, D-Kansas City, said over the weekend.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell’s 911±¬ÁÏÍø-area 1st district is unlikely to be radically altered, but voters in the 911±¬ÁÏÍø suburbs likely will face changes to account for the dilution of Democratic votes in the western part of the state.

The 2nd district, for example, which now is represented by Republican Ann Wagner of Ballwin, would lose a chunk of St. Charles County to the 3rd district, which is held by Republican Bob Onder of Lake Saint Louis.

Legal experts question whether mid-term redistricting can be done. Jefferson City attorney Chuck Hatfield, who served as a top official in the Missouri attorney general’s office in the 1990s, issued a memo last month saying the state constitution prohibits what is about to happen because redistricting should only be done following the once-per-decade census.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City, who represents the 5th Congressional District, told reporters Monday he will sue the state if the changes go forward.

Kehoe has acknowledged the likelihood of legal action.

Sen. President Cindy O’Laughlin, R-Shelbina, downplayed the threat of litigation in a statement, saying a 7-1 map would “strengthen Missouri’s conservative voice in Washington.�

“This process will be legal, constitutional, and respectful of every community. I am confident the Senate will be ready to act swiftly to deliver a map to match Missouri’s conservative majority and reforms that protect the voice of Missouri voters,� O’Laughlin said.

Rep. Cathy Jo Loy, R-Carthage, said she believes the changes are legal.

“The legislature has the authority & I’ll consider a 7-1 map with a clear conscience that we’re not violating the Constitution,� she said in a social media post Friday.

Rep. LaKeySha Bosley, D-911±¬ÁÏÍø, called the proposed map racist because it targets Cleaver and his Kansas City constituents and said it could result in mass protests if adopted.

“Furthermore, this attempt to redraw district lines for political gain, outside of the normal decennial process, can be likened to the reckless defiance of democratic norms once displayed by Confederate generals during the Civil War, those who betrayed national unity for racial and political dominance,� Bosley wrote in a statement.

The special session could last up to 60 days, but lawmakers are expected to wrap up their work within two weeks.