A Democratic legislator from Springfield faces a Missouri House ethics investigation because of an obscene text message sent to a Republican colleague during debate over the new congressional district map. State Rep. Jeremy Dean of Springfield sent the text message on Sept. 4 to Republican state Rep. Cecelie Williams of Dittmer. Dean and other Democrats […]

Gov. Mike Kehoe called a special session to redraw Missouri’s congressional map without a compelling reason, attorneys for the Missouri NAACP said Monday. Therefore, they contend, the map passed by lawmakers should be declared void. In the first of what promises to be extensive legal wrangling over the new maps, Cole County Circuit Judge Christopher […]

The Missouri Senate died at 1:42 p.m. Friday afternoon when Republican leaders refused to allow debate on a measure weakening the initiative petition process, GOP state Sen. Lincoln Hough said in an interview with The Independent. A two-week special session to gerrymander Missouri’s congressional map and make it virtually impossible for voters to amend the […]

A newly-gerrymandered congressional map and limits on voters’ ability to amend the state constitution cleared the Missouri Senate Friday, capping two weeks of contentious debate that drew national attention. The changes to the initiative petition process will appear on the statewide ballot next year.  The new map, designed to give Republicans control of seven of […]

U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver warned Missouri lawmakers Thursday that the effort to redraw the 5th District seat to favor Republicans will be long remembered by voters who resent being swapped by politicians seeking to increase their power. Speaking to the Senate Local Government, Elections and Pensions Committee, Cleaver, a Kansas City Democrat, noted that Texas […]