St. Louis Targeted to Lose a District
From Missouri Digital News: https://mdn.org
MDN Menu

MDN Home

Journalist's Creed

Print

MDN Help

MDN.ORG: Missouri Digital News
MDN Menu

MDN Home

Journalist's Creed

Print

MDN Help

MDN.ORG Mo. Digital News Missouri Digital News MDN.ORG: Mo. Digital News MDN.ORG: Missouri Digital News
Lobbyist Money Help  

St. Louis Targeted to Lose a District

Date: April 5, 2011
By: Brian Bondus
State Capitol Bureau
Links: HB 193 and the redistricting maps.

JEFFERSON CITY - A day after a Senate committee passed a map to eliminate Democratic U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan's district, the House Redistricting Committee followed suit.

Committee Chairman Rep. John Diehl, R-St. Louis County, proposed the map that was passed with a 10-1 vote. The only "no" vote came from Rep. Ron Casey, D-Crystal City, who's from Carnahan's district.

Diehl allowed anyone to propose alternative maps and the only other representative to propose one was Casey.

"Everybody's criticizing it, but nobody can show you anything that's better. It's probably a pretty good map, and I think the fact that Senate and the Democrats came up with a map that's only about two percent different than this one. I think that tells you we are probably pretty close to the right answer," said Diehl.

Casey's proposal kept three of the eight districts the same as Diehl's, but left St. Charles and Jefferson County whole.

His proposal lost by a 7-4 vote. Casey then proposed an ammendment to Diehl's plan to keep Jackson County whole, which also lost by a 10-1 vote.

Dozens of Jackson County residents were angry because both maps divide their county.

"They carve out all of the Replubican votes  in Jackson County and put them in the sixth district to make fifth district super fortified Democrat and the sixth district super fortified Republican." said Donna Turk of Jackson County.