(Updated to include Democratic reaction to Colyer’s comments, comments from the Senate vice president and a new statement from the Senate president issued later Saturday afternoon.)
Is this the shot that opens a redistricting battle in Kansas?
Former Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer, one of the major candidates for Kansas governor in 2026, took to Facebook late Friday to announce his support for redrawing boundaries for the state’s four congressional districts.
His announcement came the same day that Republican Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe called a special session in that state to redraw congressional districts at the urging of President Donald Trump.
The president ignited a national redistricting battle when he called on Republicans to redraw congressional districts in Texas to gain five additional seats in the U.S. House.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbot on Friday signed new congressional districts into law that will add five Republican-leaning U.S. House districts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The president’s call led the California General Assembly to adopt a redrawn congressional map designed to help Democrats win five more U.S. House seats next year.
The new congressional boundaries must be approved by California voters this fall.
There have been other battles playing out nationally, where it’s been reported that the president has been applying pressure on Indiana Republicans to redraw election boundaries.
Citing anonymous sources, Politico reported that Vice President JD Vance urged more than 55 Indiana Republicans to move ahead with redistricting in a private meeting.
Politico reported that Trump then met privately in the Oval Office with Indiana House Speaker President Todd Huston and Senate President Rodric Bray.
It’s been reported that other redistricting battles could play out in Utah, Illinois and Ohio.
It’s murky to what extent the White House has had conversations with Republican leaders in Kansas about drawing new congressional districts.
Colyer, an ardent supporter of President Trump, called on the Legislature to draw new congressional districts immediately.
He urged lawmakers to redraw election boundaries for the state’s four congressional districts, which are represented by three Republicans and one Democrat.
“Leaders lead boldly from the front regardless of the critics,” Colyer said in a Facebook post Friday night.
“That’s why I am standing with President Trump and calling on the Kansas Legislature to hold a special session and redraw the Congressional lines immediately.
“National Democrats have gerrymandered Congress to make it more liberal than the real America. Kansas needs to lead the way in restoring sanity to our federal government.
“This is what’s required to advance the America First Agenda and to Make Kansas Great Again,” he said.
Colyer called on all Republican candidates for governor to join him in seeking to redistrict Kansas congressional boundaries.
“President Trump’s agenda is worth fighting for,” he said.
So far, the only major candidate for governor to respond to Colyer was Republican Secretary of State Scott Schwab. “Redistricting now has merit.”
Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt did not respond to a request for comment.
Colyer’s comments likely put pressure on Senate President Ty Masterson, the only candidate running for governor in a position to do anything about redistricting.
Masterson could be in a position to try to move forward with redrawing congressional boundaries in a special session or introducing legislation at the start of the next legislative session. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly would likely not call a special session, and the Legislature would need two-thirds of its members to call itself into session.
Looming in the background is a potential endorsement from the president, whose support could tilt a Republican primary in a candidate’s favor next year similar to what happened to Colyer when he narrowly lost to Kris Kobach in the 2018 GOP primary for governor.
“With so many Republican candidates now vying for governor, it’s clear that the race has become a contest to win Donald Trump’s endorsement,” said state Rep. Brandon Woodard, the top Democrat in the House.
“The push for congressional redistricting is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to gain Trump’s favor and advance personal political ambitions,” Woodard said.
Masterson issued a statement on Saturday afternoon responding to Colyer’s call for drawing new congressional maps.
“Mid-decade redistricting is a serious endeavor that began with the Democrats gerrymandering their way to a lot of seats they didn’t earn,” he said.
I’m grateful to have friends and supporters outside the glass looking in, encouraging us and cheering us on,” he said.
“We have been looking at the issue for several weeks and I am actively engaged in the battle for the heart and soul of America, helping the President to Make America Great Again. More to come,” he said.
On the Republican House side, Speaker Dan Hawkins was out of town and unavailable for comment. And efforts to reach House Majority Leader Chris Croft, who led redistricting efforts in the House in 2022, were unsuccessful Saturday morning.
Colyer’s announcement was strikingly familiar to a campaign tactic he employed in the last governor’s race.
During the early days of the 2022 Kansas governor’s race, Colyer called on Republican rival Derek Schmidt to join a brief with 16 other states in support of a lawsuit brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton seeking to throw out the results of the presidential election.
“There’s never a bad time to do the right thing. I call on Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt to join Ken Paxton’s lawsuit on behalf of the more than 74 million voters who voted for Donald J. Trump and more than 770K Kansans,” Colyer posted on Facebook back in 2020 before he left the race because of illness.
Schmidt pointed out that his office had been working with Missouri on the brief supporting the Texas lawsuit before Colyer made his Facebook post.
There has been murmuring in state political circles in recent weeks about whether Kansas might join the redistricting fight but conversations with observers and lawmakers have indicated there wasn’t any clear consensus about what the Legislature might do.
But Colyer’s announcement late Friday brings the issue to the surface where lawmakers, U.S. House members from Kansas and others may be more likely to talk about the matter.
In an interview Aug. 14, Masterson stopped short of ruling out a redistricting effort.
“I’m processing it,” he said after a meeting of the Legislative Coordinating Council.
“I want to fully understand what’s going on around the nation and how that plays.
“I do believe to some degree we’re in a battle for the heart of the nation. We’ll see. Nobody’s made any commitments.
“We’ve had no real strong conversations or anything about it. I’m kind of curious
what the blue states do. It looks like they’re doing it. I don’t know. I’m still weighing it myself,” he said.
Asked if he wanted to redistrict the state, Masterson said, “If it means protecting the nation, the answer is yes. If it doesn’t make any difference, no.
“If the ‘Ds’ are going to go do it in the blue states and do it, then we have a reason to protect this country,” he said.
“I’m a big believer that they’re going in the wrong direction and we’re going in the right direction. If it looks to be that it means kind of saving this country, I’m a big fan of what Trump’s doing and I think he’s taking the country back, and this is part of that.”
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, the lone Democrat in the Kansas congressional delegation, shared her concern about the possibility that Republicans might try to redraw her suburban Kansas City district in a way that might favor Republicans.
Davids sent out a fundraising email Thursday raising the possibility that Republicans might try to draw districts that could force her out of office.
“There’s a lot of misinformation out there about redistricting, so we want to break this down in clear terms: Right now, Kansas Republicans want to gerrymander our state and kick Sharice Davids out of office — without even giving voters a say,” the email said.
“If this power grab makes its way through the Legislature, the consequences for our state – and our country as a whole – would be enormous,” the email said.
“So many Kansans have lost faith in their government because of naked power grabs just like this,” the email said.
“Instead of lowering costs, creating jobs, or fixing our broken campaign finance system, these extreme politicians want to push our democracy to the breaking point.”
Democratic state Sen. Ethan Corson, a leading Democratic candidate for governor, said Colyer’s comments reflect desperation.
“It’s not surprising that Jeff Colyer has been losing elections since I was in high school,” Corson said in a statement.
“At a time when Kansas families are struggling to afford the basics, instead of providing real solutions, Jeff Colyer is focused on sucking up to Donald Trump,” he said.
“Changing the rules after the fact is unprecedented, unfair, and un-Kansas. Instead of playing politics, Jeff should focus on making life affordable for families.”
Democratic state Sen. Cindy Holscher, the other leading Democrat for governor, did not respond to a request for comment late Friday and early Saturday.
Senate Vice President Tim Shallenburger questioned why the Legislature would need to redraw congressional districts.
“I don’t know why,” he said. “We only have four districts, and three are Republican. It’s not going to change, I don’t think. I don’t think our population has changed much.”
Shallenburger said in a recent interview before Colyer’s announcement that he had not heard any conversations about redrawing election boundaries for members of Congress.
“Clearly, if we wanted to we could. We have the votes to do whatever we want to do, but I’d be shocked if we went down that road,” he said in a recent inteview.
“I suppose if somebody wants to go down that road, they could,” he said. “I don’t see any particular reason to do it, but I’m not in charge.”
The Senate’s top Democrat on Saturday criticized any effort to draw new election boundaries in Kansas.
“The only reason Republicans want to redraw the map is to attempt to eliminate a Democrat from representing Kansas in Congress,” Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes said in a statement.
“When those in power – regardless of which side of the aisle they are on – use their position of power to silence others and only increase their own power, we all lose,” Sykes said.
Two years ago, the Kansas Legislature redrew boundaries for members of Congress and the state Legislature. The state constitution requires the state legislative boundaries to be redrawn every 10 years.
The new congressional map gave Davids new rural counties that replaced urban neighborhoods in Kansas City, Kansas, that were moved into the 2nd Congressional District.
She picked up two new rural counties – Anderson and Franklin – plus a portion of rural Miami County.
Nevertheless, Davids triumphed by nine percentage points in 2024 over Prasanth Reddy and 12 percentage points over Amanda Adkins in 2022.
