Morning Digest: Missouri candidates start filing for a district that may not exist

A court is expected to rule soon whether a new GOP gerrymander is in effect

Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D) (credit: Emanuel Cleaver Facebook)

Leading Off

MO-05

Missouri Republicans have started announcing bids for the freshly gerrymandered 5th Congressional District, but Democrats say the new map is not the law of the land, and a court will soon decide the matter.

Last year, the GOP-dominated legislature enacted new boundaries that all but dismantled the district, which has long been a safely blue seat centered on Kansas City.

Instead, they chopped the city into pieces and split it among three different districts, all of which would be solidly red. The revamped 5th, represented by Democrat Emmanuel Cleaver since 2005, would now stretch almost from the state border with Kansas deep into rural central Missouri, some 200 miles away.

Democrats, however, immediately responded by seeking to qualify a veto referendum for the ballot, which would put the map up for a vote. A group called People Not Politicians began collecting signatures, and in December, organizers announced that they’d submitted over 300,000—more than twice the required total.

According to longstanding practice in Missouri, that should have paused the new map from taking effect until a vote could be held. Republicans, though, insisted that the new lines were “officially in effect” and would remain so unless the submitted signatures passed muster with election officials—a process that could take until mid-summer. That prompted opponents to swiftly sue in state court.

In legal briefs, People Not Politicians has pointed to precedents set by the Missouri Supreme Court more than a century ago in favor of its position. In a seminal 1914 decision, a unanimous court held that “all acts of the Legislature touching which the referendum may properly be invoked, are suspended by the filing of a sufficient and legal, timely petition”—precisely what organizers said they did in December.

The opposite view, the justices said, would be “illogical and well-nigh unthinkable” and approvingly cited an Oregon case that concluded allowing a law subject to a referendum to take effect beforehand “would produce disastrous results.” The state court hearing the present dispute “is expected to rule soon,” according to the Missouri Independent.

Would-be Republican candidates, however, don’t seem to be deterred by the uncertainty. Several, in fact, quickly filed paperwork to run in the 5th District after candidate filing opened last week. The roster includes former Boone County Clerk Taylor Burks, Jackson County Legislator Sean Smith, and state Sen. Rick Brattin.

Also joining the list of filers is 81-year-old Cleaver, who previously indicated he intends to seek a 12th term no matter what happens to his district.

“Normally, this would be an act of insanity for somebody to file for public office and not know where they’re serving if they should win,” he told the Independent. “But I have no idea what district I’m going to be in.”

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Primary season is here!

Senate

TX-Sen

Former Vice President Kamala Harris made a late intervention on behalf of Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett ahead of Tuesday’s Democratic primary for Senate, recording a robocall for the congresswoman that started running on Friday. A large proportion of votes have already been cast, however, as early voting began on Feb. 17.

Governors

NH-Gov

Portsmouth Mayor Deaglan McEachern, who recently said he was considering a bid against Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte, announced late last week that he would not run. The Boston Globe’s Steven Porter adds that another New Hampshire Democrat who’d been eyeing the race, state Sen. Donovan Fenton, is also a no, though there’s no direct quote from Fenton.

The lone notable Democrat running is former Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington, who campaigned for the same post two years ago but lost in the primary.

Other Races

GA-LG

Former Macon-Bibb County Commissioner Seth Clark dropped his bid for lieutenant governor on Friday, leaving state Sen. Josh McLaurin without serious opposition in the Democratic primary just days before Georgia’s candidate filing deadline.

Republicans, however, have a busy contest for this powerful post, whose occupant is responsible for setting much of the agenda in the state Senate. The position is open because incumbent Republican Burt Jones is running for governor.

Poll Pile

• CO-Sen (D): Data for Progress (D) for the Working Families Party (pro-Julie Gonzales): John Hickenlooper (inc): 45, Julie Gonzales: 13, others 3% or less.

• NY-21 (R): Grayhouse (R) for Anthony Constantino: Anthony Constantino: 43, Robert Smullen: 16.