Jefferson County could have only one representative in the U.S. House of Representatives next year if a redistricting map proposed by state Rep. Dan Shaul is approved by the Missouri Legislature.
Right now, Jefferson County is split among three districts.
If Shaul’s proposed map is put in place, the county would be in a single congressional district, District 3, currently represented by Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-St. Elizabeth).
Jefferson County would be the largest county in the new 3rd District, said Shaul (R-Imperial).
“I think the new map recognizes that Jefferson County is continuing to grow and has great things ahead of it,” he said.
Shaul is chairman of the House Redistricting Committee, which is charged with realigning Missouri’s eight congressional districts to account for shifts in population documented in the 2020 Census.
Shaul and the rest of the state’s legislators returned to Jefferson City this week, and he figured the legislation that includes his proposed map will get immediate attention because filing for the Aug. 2 primary election, which includes seats for Congress, opens Feb. 22.
“It’s an aggressive timetable,” he said. “It has to be approved before filing starts in late February. There’s still a lot of work to be done. It first will go to com-mittee (Shaul’s redistricting committee), and I expect it will be on the floor by Martin Luther King Day (Jan. 17).”
After the state’s congressional districts were redrawn following the 2010 Census, Jefferson County was split among District 2 (now represented by Ann Wagner, R-Ballwin), District 3 and District 8 (now represented by Jason Smith, R-Salem).
Under Shaul’s plan, Jefferson County will anchor a district that will include all or parts of 11 other counties, including immediate neighbor Franklin County and a portion of St. Charles County. The district would go as far west as Cole County (which includes Jefferson City) and part of Camden County (which includes Osage Beach in the Lake of the Ozarks region).
However, if the map is approved, Jefferson County would no longer be linked with St. Louis County, which has been the case for years.
“You can look at the similarities we have with St. Louis County, but I think you also need to look at the differences,” Shaul said. “We deserve to have our own representation. There are a lot of people who live in Jefferson County who came from St. Louis County, and there’s a reason they moved away. I feel we’ll all benefit from having a single voice in the House. And I think we identify more with the other parts of the (new) 3rd District than we do with the 2nd (which would take in most of south and west St. Louis County and most of St. Charles County). I hope it stays that way.”
Shaul noted redrawing the 8th District, which would include areas as far north as Ste. Genevieve and Washington counties but no longer any of Jefferson County, is noteworthy.
“It moves Pulaski County, which includes Fort Leonard Wood, into the 8th District from the 4th,” Shaul said.
He said if Smith is re-elected, he would likely assume a greater leadership role in the House’s Committee on the Budget, which he has served on for four years.
Fort Leonard Wood was formerly in the 4th District (now represented by Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville), along with Whiteman Air Force Base near Knob Noster.
“You can argue both ways on whether the two should be in the same district,” Shaul said, “but I think that (with Smith’s standing on the budget committee), it will be a big advantage that Fort Leonard Wood will be in the 8th.”
While some Republican legislators had discussed redrawing the
congressional boundaries to make it easier for the party to claim a seventh seat, Shaul said his proposed map would likely maintain the GOP’s current six seats to the Democrats’ two.
“I think it’s a fair map,” he said.
Whether or not it stays that way, Shaul said, remains to be seen.
“The map is like any other bill. You introduce it, other people look at it and come up with their own ideas,” he said. “I hope the other legislators will recognize the work and thought that went into it, but the process is what it is.
“We’ve already had a lot of discussion, but there could be some changes to it, but I don’t see a lot. But we’ll see what happens. I’d like to think that the work we’ve done over the last eight months will be appreciated. But the legislative process will do its work, and hopefully, the end result will be something that is good for the state of Missouri.”