(Updated to include comments from U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes and House Speaker Dan Hawkins)
Senate President Ty Masterson said Monday he’s collected enough signatures in his chamber to call a special session to draw new election boundaries for members of Congress.
Masterson did not reveal how many signatures he’s gathered, but it would have to be at least 27, which is the two-thirds threshold needed to call the Senate into a special session.
“The Kansas Senate Republican caucus has secured the signatures needed to exceed the constitutional threshold, demonstrating strong support for this call for a special session,” Masterson said in a statement.
“We’re sending a clear message: we’re ready to get it done. We look forward to working our agenda to make Kansas and America great again.”
The special session is planned for Nov. 7.
The House has struggled to collect signatures from two-thirds of its members – or 84 – needed to call a special session.
It is believed that the chamber is somewhere in the neighborhood of eight short of the signatures needed to call a special session.
House Speaker Dan Hawkins responded but did not address where the House is in collecting signatures with the proposed special session now less than two weeks away.
“There are many crucial issues percolating that require a special session,” Hawkins said.
“Unlike Democrats in Congress, Kansas Republicans are committed to doing their jobs regardless of the time of year,” he said.
“House Republicans know a woman is a woman just as strongly as they know Shutdown Sharice is threatening our troops getting paid and keeping the vulnerable from receiving critical (food-assistance) dollars.
“While congressional Democrats play games, we’re confident our folks will focus on these important issues and get the job done.”
Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes said the Republicans are more interested in serving the president’s interest than Kansans.
“It’s clear that at least 27 of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are comfortable taking $460,000 from the state general fund for a redistricting special session that Kansans are not calling for,” Sykes said
“Kansans are concerned about the cost of groceries, access to health care, property taxes, and rising political violence,” she said in a statement.
“And they deserve elected officials who are focused on addressing those issues, not scoring political points with the White House,” she said.
The Legislature has only called itself into a special session once in history, back in 2021 when lawmakers convened to fight back against federal COVID-19 regulations.
Masterson’s announcement figures to help boost his standing with President Donald Trump in the 2026 governor’s race.
Masterson is among eight candidates seeking the Republican nomination for governor, and a Trump endorsement could stand to tilt the election in his favor.
Even if the House fails to get the signatures needed for a special session, Masterson could tout his efforts to address redistricting as he tries to woo support from the president.
One of Masterson’s primary rivals for governor, former Gov. Jeff Colyer, called on the Legislature to redraw election districts in late August.
And Johnson County businessman Philip Sarnecki has been running digital ads urging the Legislature to draw new election districts.
Back in 2018, Trump’s endorsement was credited with helping Kris Kobach defeat Colyer in the Republican primary for governor, less than 24 hours before polls opened on Election Day. Kobach won that race by 343 votes.
Trump ignited a national battle on redistricting when he called on states to draw new congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterm election to consolidate his influence with Congress. So far, Texas, Missouri, California and North Carolina have approved new maps.
The Kansas effort will likely be focused on the Kansas 3rd Congressional District, which covers Johnson County and is now represented by U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids.
It could very well be divided up three ways, leaving the county with the biggest population potentially without someone in Congress.
“You can’t change the rules mid-fight just because you’re afraid you can’t win — yet that’s exactly what extreme Republicans in Topeka are doing,” Davids said in a statement.
“This is a blatant attempt to silence Kansas voters and protect their own political power. Kansans deserve fairness, not backroom deals influenced by D.C. to hurt Kansans,” she said.
Virginia and Indiana are now poised to join the redistricting fray as well.
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun announced Monday that a special session will be held there on Nov. 3. And Virginia was expected to undertake a similar effort starting Monday.
Last week, North Carolina legislators drew a new map that would give Republicans one more seat in Congress.
The Associated Press reported that the new map could undercut the reelection of Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis, an African American who represents what had been described as the state’s only swing seat.
Meanwhile, plaintiffs in an existing lawsuit against North Carolina’s congressional districts revised their litigation to contest the districts the General Assembly passed last week.
The fight doesn’t stop there, however. Virginia is now expected to join the redistricting battle.
Virginia is now divided between six Democratic and five Republican members of Congress.
It is believed that drawing maps in Virginia could give Democrats two or three more seats in Congress.
Politico reports that Republicans have drawn seven seats leaning Republican covering three states, including the map approved in North Carolina last week.
California voters will decide in November whether to support new districts backed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. The California plan could give Democrats five seats.
Masterson was open to including other issues such as property taxes in the special session, a move that some believed helped him to collect signatures from some senators who might have been reluctant to sign the petition.
The Legislature could also consider other issues in the special session such as preventing transgender Kansans from changing their gender markers on driver’s licenses.
It also could consider oversight of money Kansas receives from the federal Rural Health Transformation Program that will distribute $50 billion to states nationally.
