By: Tyler Kirwan
WASHINGTON — Emanuel Cleaver isn’t a stranger to a standard reelection run. Someone with his level of time spent in office might even call it a speed-walk. He’s been elected 11 times to the U.S. House of Representatives and two times as mayor of Kansas City — the first African American to hold that post. Before that, he served 12 years on the City Council in Kansas City.
But this year, the veteran politician, who will turn 82 the week before Election Day, isn’t facing a standard reelection: All of those past races have been in Cleaver’s Kansas City backyard. This time, he’s facing the prospect of having to stump for votes from Kansas City to Columbia.
That’s because Cleaver was target No. 1 in this year’s mid-decade redistricting effort by the Missouri General Assembly, part of a national battle between the Democratic and Republican parties to gain political advantage in November’s midterm elections. In Missouri, where Republicans hold the levers of power, they are hoping to replace one of the two Democrats who currently represent the state in Washington with another Republican.
So far, Missouri’s courts have denied Democrats’ efforts to block the redistricting. But Cleaver is pinning his hopes on a last-ditch effort that will allow him to keep his Kansas City-centered district. For now, Cleaver is focusing on the area he currently represents and not plotting how to win votes in unfamiliar territory.
“We haven’t thought one minute, one second about it, because it’s illegal,” the congressman said in an interview with the Missourian.
It’s easy to see why Cleaver would rather not face the prospect of a redrawn district. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the district that Cleaver currently represents “solid Democrat,” notes one of the organization’s analysts, Matthew Klein. “It’s historically been based in Kansas City, a very Democratic part of the state,” he said. “Emanuel Cleaver has really faced no serious electoral challenges going back several cycles at this point.”
But if the Democrats’ last chance of stopping redistricting doesn’t materialize, Klein predicts it could spell an end to Cleaver’s long political career.
“The advantage that Republicans would have under the new map is so strong that even for a longtime incumbent and even in what looks like it is probably going to be a fairly favorable climate for Democrats, it’s just almost impossible to overcome that degree of partisan advantage,” he said.
The proposed new map divides Cleaver’s old district three ways, with the new 5th District encompassing the areas of Kansas City, east of Troost Ave.
Cleaver called the choice to split along Troost “the most psychological, painful thing that happened, not just to me, but the African American community in Kansas City.”
“Historically, it’s been the dividing line between where African Americans could live and then where other majority communities would live,” Cleaver said. “In the early 1900s, it was called the wall because it separated these communities. And it had a long history of ugliness and division.”
Under the map the legislature crafted, the area’s majority-Black neighborhoods east of Troost will be drawn into the predominantly white rural areas between Kansas City and Columbia.
Cleaver argued that it threatens to leave the people he has spent a career representing without a voice in Congress. “There are some people who will be running who have no experience in either living in communities of color or having the relationships that allow them to work with people of color,” Cleaver said.
The Missouri legislature’s decision to redraw the state’s congressional districts came in response to a call from President Donald Trump last summer for GOP-controlled states to redraw their congressional maps to help the GOP maintain control of the House. Democrats have followed suit in the states they control and legal battles have ensued.
That’s the case in Missouri, where Democrats have waged a series of legal battles to stop the redistricting. The last remaining chance to restore the congressional districts created after the 2020 census revolves around a petition drive mounted by a national coalition, People Not Politicians. The group’s representatives say they’ve gathered more than 300,000 signatures from people in support of establishing a referendum, on the maps on the next election ballot.
If Missouri Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins deems there are sufficient signatures calling for a referendum — under state law, he has until July to make that determination — the old maps would remain for the November election.
“So the answer right now is to what map is Emanuel Cleaver running in? What district? The honest answer is, we don’t know,” said Richard Von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians.
Cleaver acknowledges that it complicates his reelection strategy.
“The uncertainty is not good. It’s not good for the voters. It’s not good for the politics,” he said.
Uncertainty over maps isn’t unprecedented. Von Glahn said that maps after the 2020 census weren’t finalized until late May 2022. “That doesn’t leave candidates a lot of time to communicate with voters. So I understand that, that can be frustrating.”
Regardless of whether they are ratified, the new maps are the result of what is known as gerrymandering, University of Missouri political scientist Scott LaComb said.
“Gerrymandering is the process of manipulating district lines for some sort of political gain that could include partisan gerrymandering, which means drawing district lines to benefit one political party,” he said.
Cleaver noted that his seniority has given him strong ties with his colleagues, including Missouri’s mostly Republican members.
“I still have relationships with most of the members of the delegation,” Cleaver said. “I can tell you this, none of them are actively out campaigning for redistricting.”
Cleaver was the first to file paperwork for this year’s reelection filing, but where he will actually be running and whose vote he is hoping to catch is still up in the air. He’s the only Democrat running in the 5th Congressional District; six Republicans are vying for their party’s nomination in the Aug. 4 primary.
“Democrats are going to respond. They’re going to fight fire with fire,” Cleaver said. “But I also said that when you fight fire with fire, nothing will be left except ash. And I think that’s where we’re headed.”
This story originally appeared in the Columbia Missourian. It can be republished in print or online.