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Missouri has eight congressional districts, one of which has historically been based in the Kansas City area. In direct response to partisan calls to gerrymander congressional districts before the 2026 midterm elections, Missouri dismantled Kansas City-based Congressional District 5, cracking the city into three pieces and splitting them between three rural districts. The new redistricting plan was pushed through in a rushed process that shut out meaningful public input from Kansas City residents, and ignored their widespread testimony about the harms this mid-decade redistricting plan would cause. Fracturing Kansas City prevents the area’s residents from uniting to have their voices heard by a single member of Congress. The new plan thus reduces opportunities for voters in the Kansas City Metropolitan area to have an equal electoral voice.

The redraw of the lines around Kansas City was along racial lines—and is aimed at unseating one of the two Black members of Congress representing Missouri. In one highly populated area of Kansas City, the new lines bisect Black and white neighbors, literally placing different racial groups on opposite sides of the track.

Three separate legal challenges were brought against the redistricting effort. This case, filed by Merrie Suzanne Luther and other Missouri voters, challenges the redistricting as unlawful for Missouri having no authority authorizing congressional redistricting more than once a decade. The ÌÒ×ÓÊÓƵand co-counsel filed a separate action on behalf of Kansas City voters with the same claim. In December 2025, a Missouri court denied the claim that Missouri law limits congressional redistricting to once a decade, and the plaintiffs appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court. The ÌÒ×ÓÊÓƵand co-counsel filed an amicus brief in support of the appeal.