The Republican-controlled Missouri legislature began redrawing its congressional map Thursday to target one Democratic-held seat in the US House, responding to demands by President Donald Trump and his allies to help the GOP eke out more seats in next year’s midterm elections.

Lawmakers in the Missouri House are holding committee hearings and initial votes on the map this week, with the full House expected to take up the legislation early next week. Republicans hold a supermajority in the Missouri legislature, making it likely that the map will be approved.

The proposed map would dramatically alter the Kansas City-area district long represented by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, splitting parts of the city and adding a wide swath of rural and heavily Republican central Missouri.

Changi

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