Kansas redistricting map back to life with veto override
TOPEKA (KSNT)- Republicans in the Senate secured the votes on Tuesday to overturn Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly's veto of Senate Bill 355.
By a vote of 27-11, the Senate successfully overrode the veto. Two senators abstained from voting. SB355, which would adopt new district lines in Kansas, now goes to the House.
The successful override vote comes in the second day of deliberations over the map. The Kansas Senate previously voted yesterday to overcome Kelly's veto, but could not muster the 27 votes needed with a final tally of 24 yes votes and 15 no votes.
The “Ad Astra 2” map in SB355 would draw new district lines, particularly controversial in Northeast Kansas where the northern half of Wyandotte County will be split from the state’s 3rd Congressional District. The area is currently held by Representative Sharice Davids, the only Kansas Democrat in Congress. It would also take Lawrence, just one city in Douglas County, and add it to the 1st Congressional District which predominantly accounts for the western part of the state.
Opponents of the map have called it “gerrymandered,” and said it would make it harder for Davids to keep her position as the state’s only congressional Democrat. Supporters like Republican Rep. Brenda Landwehr (Wichita) have said there is a “numbers problem” in the Wyandotte and Johnson County area that the map solves. When vetoing it, Kelly previously voiced objections to how the map would redraw voting districts in Kansas.
“Without explanation, this map shifts 46% of the Black population and 33% of the Hispanic population out of the 3rd Congressional District by dividing the Hispanic neighborhoods of Quindaro Bluffs, Bethel-Welborn, Strawberry Hill, Armourdale and others from Argentine, Turner and the rest of Kansas City, Kansas south of I-70,” Kelly said.