TOPEKA — Kansas legislative leaders’ messaging has teetered between confident and uncertain as they approach a possible attempt at drawing new Congressional lines in January.
House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican who is running for state insurance commissioner, said in an interview with a conservative political commentator that something isn’t connecting with a handful of holdouts in his caucus.
Hawkins and Senate President Ty Masterson, also a Wichita Republican, spoke with pundit Hugh Hewitt at a recent conference in Fort Worth held by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a nonprofit that convenes state legislators and private industries while crafting model legislation.
Both discussed possible redistricting in Kansas’ upcoming legislative session and their bids for statewide office. Masterson is one of nine Republican candidates for governor.
Leadership failed to rally enough support to call a special session this fall to pass a redistricted map of Kansas’ congressional districts. The effort was part of a nationwide push to retain Republican seats in the upcoming midterm elections.
Don’t miss a beat … Click here to sign up for our email newsletters
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
Masterson obtained enough votes in the Senate for a special session, but Hawkins fell about 10 votes short.
“Do your members understand that politics is now nationalized and that — I know they might not think that way in Kansas — but if the (U.S.) House is one seat D(emocratic), it’s because Kansas didn’t act. Do they get it?” Hewitt said during the nine-and-a-half minute interview posted to Hawkins’ YouTube Channel.
Hawkins said redistricting is possible, but something must change. He said the House Republicans who didn’t support the special session have different reasons for not favoring redistricting, and the national message isn’t connecting with everyone.
Masterson was more confident.
“We’ll have no trouble for sure passing a new map with majorities,” he told Hewitt in a separate interview.
The uncertainty lies in how Republicans can overcome Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s anticipated vetoes, he said.
Redistricting could also affect whether the state Republicans will retain their supermajorities, which has caused a bit of fear as they approach the 2026 election cycle, Masterson said.
But redistricting is a must for Masterson.
“I think we have to do it,” he said.
He said he is “not a fan of drawing deep red and deep blue districts,” instead favoring districts that “look like Kansas.”
“I think there should be a shot in all of them,” Masterson said.
Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.
Don’t miss a beat — get the latest news from the Times delivered to your inbox:
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
