Pyle, Garber express opposition to Congressional redistricting map

“We can do better.”

That’s how Kansas Senator Dennis Pyle views the “Ad Astra 2” Congressional redistricting map, which splits Jackson County into two Congressional districts and received the Kansas Senate’s approval before going on to the House of Representatives, where the map was approved shortly before noon on Wednesday, Jan. 26.

Sen. Pyle, whose First Senate District coverage area includes all of Jackson County, was the lone Republican in the Senate to vote no on the map. Similarly, Kansas Rep. Randy Garber, who represents northern Jackson County in the Kansas House, was the sole Republican in the House to cast a no vote on the map.

The map went to Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, who has claimed reluctance to divide the Kansas City metropolitan area between the Second and Third Congressional districts as “Ad Astra 2” does, but has so far remained noncommittal on whether she would approve the map. Kelly would eventually veto the map, but the Senate had enough votes — excluding Pyle, who voted against overriding on the first vote and “present” on the second — to override the veto. The map now goes to the House, where a two-thirds vote is required to support the override.

Part of Pyle’s main opposition to the map involves its splitting of Jackson County between the Second Congressional District, where it currently resides, and the First District, which encompasses a wide swath of western Kansas, as well moving neighboring Jefferson County and part of Douglas County including Lawrence from the Second to the First.

If Gov. Kelly vetoes the map and legislators challenge it, there’s a chance that the map could be challenged in court —similar to what happened the last time the state’s Congressional district maps were redrawn in 2012, when the districts’ boundaries were set by three federal judges.

With Garber’s no vote, two Republicans voting “present” and four other Republicans absent from the vote, the party fell five votes short of a veto-proof majority.

Pyle said he simply does not want a repeat of what happened in 2012. 

“I really don’t want to see this thing go to the courts and have taxpayers get stuck with the bill,” Pyle said. “We really can do better. It’s going to involve some compromise down here. I get very frustrated sometimes with this process, as anybody in here does.”

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