Protestors gather in the rotunda to protest a Republican-led redistricting plan at the Missouri State Capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, on Wednesday. Yong Li Xuan/Missourian/AP

Missouri’s Republican-controlled Senate on Friday passed a new congressional map, taking final legislative action to eliminate one of the state’s Democratic seats in the US House and boost the GOP’s chances of retaining its fragile majority in the chamber.

The vote came exactly two weeks after the state’s GOP Gov. Mike Kehoe first unveiled the map and ordered a special legislative session to approve it. It targets longtime Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver by carving up his Kansas City-area district and stretching its boundaries into rural, Republican-friendly areas of central Missouri.

Republicans hope t

See Full Page