A lower court in Kansas threw out the state’s GOP-friendly congressional map on Monday and ordered the state legislature back to the drawing board as the Aug. 2 primary looms.
Judge Bill Klapper ruled that the map engaged an “intentional, effective partisan gerrymander” and diluted the power of minority voters in the state. Republicans will likely face an uphill legal battle if they seek to appeal the decision to the Democratic-controlled state Supreme Court.
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“The Buddha says the only consistent thing in the universe is change. One does not have to be a Buddhist to realize change is always taking place,” Klapper wrote in the decision. “Courts in all cases are tasked in doing what is right. This case is not different. Alas, the rub becomes what is right. Let’s define right as just.”
The new map, known as Ad Astra 2, would have likely put the Democrats’ sole congressional seat in the state at risk. Republicans currently tout a 3-1 dominance over its congressional seats. In pursuit of a 4-0 seat advantage, the GOP-backed map shifted roughly 46% of the black population and 33% of the Hispanic population out of the 3rd Congressional District, which is currently held by Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids.
In 2020, the district voted for President Joe Biden by 11%, but under the new map would have opted for Biden by 4.5%, according to Dave Wasserman, a national elections analyst with the Cook Political Report. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the map in February, citing concerns about it diluting the voting power of minority communities, but the Republican-led legislature overrode her veto.
The suit, Alonzo, et al. v. Schwab, was filed on behalf of 10 people who live in Kansas and echoed Kelly’s concerns about Ad Astra 2’s effect on the voting power of minorities within the state.
Referencing personal family experiences and cookie-cutter wisdom from the Buddha and others, Klapper sided with the plaintiffs and determined the map constituted partisan gerrymandering. He ordered the new map be drawn “expeditiously” in a 209-page ruling for the Wyandotte County District Court.
“The Court has no difficulty finding, as a factual matter, that Ad Astra 2 is an intentional, effective pro-Republican gerrymander that systemically dilutes the votes of Democratic Kansans,” he wrote. “The Court, therefore, concludes that Ad Astra 2 intentionally and effectively dilutes minority votes in violation of the Kansas Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection.”
Campaign Legal Center, which backed the lawsuit alongside the ACLU of Kansas and others, hailed the decision as “a win for fair maps” in the state.
“Kansas voters of all parties and races deserve fair and neutral maps that take community input into account and allow all voters to make their voices heard,” said Paul Smith, senior vice president at Campaign Legal Center. “With the 2022 election around the corner, it is more important than ever that Kansans feel confident that their vote counts.”
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Kansas joins at least four other states that had their congressional map struck down by a court, including North Carolina, Ohio, Maryland, and New York. Roughly a dozen states across the country currently have litigation pending against their congressional maps, even as some primary races are already underway.
With the court throwing out Ad Astra 2, the Sunflower State joins three others that don’t have legally binding congressional maps — Missouri, New York, and New Hampshire.
