Kansas Gov. Kelly’s veto of GOP-drawn map survives, for now, after ‘circus’ in Senate

The Kansas Senate fell short Monday in its attempt to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a Republican-supported congressional map that opponents denounce as racially gerrymandered.

Senators voted 24 to 15 to reject the veto, falling three votes short of the two-thirds majority needed. But Republicans are expected to engage in an overnight scramble to find the necessary votes and reverse the outcome.

The map, drafted following the 2020 census, would split majority-minority Wyandotte County between two congressional districts, diluting the voting strength of its minority residents.

Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican and a leading proponent of the map, switched his vote to ‘no’ at the last moment, allowing GOP leaders to use a procedural maneuver to hold another vote on Tuesday.

The map is an audacious attempt by Republicans to weaken the electoral prospects of U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, the state’s sole Democrat in Congress. It divides Wyandotte County roughly along Interstate 70 between the 2nd and 3rd congressional districts. Currently, the entire county — along with Johnson County — is in the 3rd.

The map would place Lawrence, a liberal college town, into the 1st Congressional District. The district, known as the Big 1st, encompasses the western and north central regions of the state and is reliably Republican.

When Kelly vetoed the map on Thursday, she said it would move 46% of the 3rd District’s Black population and 33% of its Hispanic population into the 2nd District. Lawmakers on both sides acknowledge the map would almost certainly be challenged in court.

The map would move northern Wyandotte County to the 2nd District, where “we have nothing to do culturally, we have nothing to do in terms of interactivity,” Sen. David Haley, a Kansas City Democrat, said.

“We share so very little,” Haley said, calling the proposal a “true exercise in disenfranchisement.”

If the the veto stands, it will mark a major victory for Democrats and Wyandotte County community leaders. The Legislature would then be tasked with drawing a new map.

But if Masterson and other Republican proponents succeed, it will set up a high-stakes override vote in the House. Map supporters need to find five votes in that chamber to force the proposal into law.

Attention overnight will be focused on four Republican ‘no’ votes: Sen. Alicia Straub of Ellinwood; Sen. Mark Steffen of Hutchinson; Sen. Dennis Pyle of Hiawatha; and Sen. John Doll of Garden City.

“The truth is we can do better,” Pyle said.

Vote lasts for hours

Senate Republican leaders held the vote open for more than two hours as they tried to get to the 27 necessary for the override. Ostensibly, the vote was held open to search for Sen. Mike Thompson, a Shawnee Republican, and Sen. Cindy Holscher, an Overland Park Democrat.

Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat, said Holscher had been at a doctor’s appointment. Thompson’s absence was never explained, but he suddenly appeared near the end of the vote and voted yes.

“It became a political circus” said Doll, who changed his ‘yes’ to ‘no’ hours into the vote.

He said that if Republican leaders “want to play a game, I’ll play a game.”

Following the vote, the Senate’s proceedings became rancorous as Democrats said Senate Vice President Rick Wilborn, a McPherson Republican, skipped over senators already standing to recognize Senate Majority Leader Larry Alley, a Winfield Republican, for a motion to adjourn. Masterson disputed the allegation.

If an opponent of the map had been recognized, the senator could have called for an immediate vote to reconsider – depriving GOP leaders the night to pressure colleagues.

“I think we saw some of the worst partisan games today. This charade at the end of the day, just with multiple members of the Senate standing and trying to end debate, I was appalled,” Sykes said. “It just shows that the Senate leadership on the other side of the aisle does not want to compromise, they don’t care that the voice of Kansans are heard, they just want their way.”

Masterson declined to comment through an aide.

During debate, Masterson defended the map as fair. He said would be very comfortable defending it in court.

“We heard words like disenfranchisement, gerrymandering. What comes to mind is a quote from Princess Bride and Inigo Montoya,” a revenge-motivated swordsman played by Mandy Patinkin in the 1987 film. ‘”You keep using those words, I don’t think they mean what you think they mean.’”

Other maps available

Sen. Ethan Corson, a Fairway Democrat, said the map would have Kansas in court for months at taxpayer expense. The state would have had “very little chance” of prevailing, he said.

Litigation would also raise the prospect that, for the second time in a decade, federal judges would have to impose new congressional maps on the state. In 2012, the Legislature failed to pass a map and the state’s current districts were drawn by judges.

“By voting no, all this body would be saying is that it wants the Redistricting Committee to go back and work on a map that follows its own guidelines and can withstand legal scrutiny,” Corson said on the floor, referencing guidelines that call for compact districts that preserve communities with similar social, cultural and economic traits.

The map, called “ad astra” by lawmakers (Latin for “to the stars”) is far from the only map introduced in the Legislature. Numerous other proposed maps are also in front of legislators, including some that would achieve the required balance between the state’s four congressional districts without splitting apart Wyandotte County.

But not dividing Wyandotte County will require splitting apart Johnson County – something lawmakers say has never been done in Kansas history. The idea of cleaving apart Johnson, a major population center and economic engine for the state, is a major stumbling block for some legislators.

“The core has always been Johnson County,” Masterson said of the 3rd District.

The Star’s Lucy Peterson contributed reporting