Redistricting Shakes Up Oakville's Congressional Representation

Oakville may be one step closer to having Republican representation in Congress.

The Missouri General Assembly on Wednesday overrode Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of legislation reconfiguring the state’s congressional districts. Missouri is losing a congressional seat since its population did not keep up with other states.

Rep. Marsha Haefner, R-Oakville, voted for the override in the House, while Sen. Jim Lembke, R-Lemay, voted to quash the veto in the Senate. The override succeeded in the House with 109 ‘yes’ votes—the exact number need for an override—and 28 ‘yes’ votes in the Senate.

Currently, Oakville is located in U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan’s district – which encompasses south St. Louis City, parts of south St. Louis County, Jefferson County and Ste. Genevieve County. Under the configuration that became law on Wednesday, Oakville would move to a district currently represented by U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Town and Country.

Carnahan now resides in the same legislative district as U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis City. If he ran in the district where he resides, he would have to face Clay in a Democratic primary. He could hypothetically run in Akin’s district, as candidates for Congress to do not have to reside in the district where they run.

While Akin’s new district includes some swing areas in south St. Louis County and Jefferson County, it also features some decidedly GOP-leaning areas in west St. Louis County and St. Charles County. And although Clay’s reconfigured area is heavily Democratic, it is also 49.5 percent African-American. That may make it challenging for Carnahan, who is white, to defeat Clay, who is black, in a hypothetical Democratic primary.

Carnahan told Politico that he is not ready to announce his 2012 plans.

Reaction to the veto override effectively fell on party lines. For example, Missouri Democratic Party Executive Director Matt Teter said the “partisan map drawn by the Republican Party is not acceptable to the citizens of Missouri nor to our Governor.”

“We believe Missourians would be better served if the non-partisan courts, who are motivated by fairness, not partisanship, determined the new Congressional lines," Teter said in a statement.

The state’s Republican Party took a different tack, stating in a news release that the process “resulted in a fair map that meets all legal requirements and adequately represents the people of Missouri.”

The statement said the vote was “bipartisan,” an allusion to the fact that four Democrats in the House and three Democrats in the Senate voted for the override.

“Republicans and Democrats in the Missouri General Assembly dealt a stinging rebuke to Governor Nixon for his political veto of the bipartisan reapportionment solution,” said Lloyd Smith, executive director of the Missouri Republican Party, in a statement.  “Unlike Jay Nixon, our elected representatives understood that redistricting is too important a topic to leave to the whims of unelected judges.”

AFTERMATH

While it’s possible Carnahan could be the Democratic nominee in 2^nd Congressional District, Akin may have other electoral plans.

Akin is That would leave his congressional seat open.

Former Missouri Republican Party Chairwoman Ann Wagner has set up an exploratory committee to scope out a potential congressional run. And Sen. Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, told the St. Louis Beacon that she may run for Congress if Akin vacates his seat.

Several Democrats also broached the possibility that the map could be challenged in court. Sen. Robin Wright-Jones, D-St. Louis City, said such a move would amount to a last-ditch effort to make significant changes to the proposal.

"That would be the last gasp, absolutely," Wright-Jones said in an interview, adding that she was disappointed that most of the decisions were made behind closed doors with the majority. "The minority had no input not knowing what's coming out, having to pretty much digest it right on the spot. I think there's a real lack of voice in that process like that."

House Speaker Steve Tilley, R-Perryville, told Missouri News Horizon that the map was the “best one that we could get the votes to pass.”

“I would say there were probably maps out there that would probably have done better as far as distribution,” Tilley said to the online news service. “But if you can’t get the votes to pass it, it’s not reality. We worked with both parties in the redistricting process to try and come up with a fair map. I think that’s what we’ve done.”