Board condemns Missouri extraordinary session redistricting effort, calls it threat to voter initiatives

The St. Louis Board of Aldermen on the floor adopted Resolution 101, a formal condemnation of the Missouri General Assembly’s extraordinary session that sponsors said was being used to redraw congressional maps mid‑decade and to change the initiative petition process.

The resolution, introduced by Alderman Rashin Aldrich (Fourteenth Ward) and cosponsored by President Megan Green and others, states the board’s opposition to a proposed congressional map that sponsors say would shift Missouri’s delegation from a 6–2 to a 7–1 Republican advantage and to initiative petition reforms that would require measures to pass in every congressional district.

"They rather cheat, they rather lie, they rather steal than actually trying to win on principle and actually trying to win on values," Alderman Rashin Aldrich said on the floor, criticizing the timing and intent of the special session. He and other speakers framed the effort as an attempt to dilute urban and minority voting power, particularly in Kansas City.

Board members who traveled to Jefferson City to protest the plans were recognized on the floor. Speakers said Democratic senators were filibustering in the state senate and urged continued public pressure. Multiple members added their names as cosponsors, and several board members urged solidarity with Kansas City residents and other affected communities.

The board’s action is a political statement: it does not alter state law or the redistricting process but expresses St. Louis municipal leaders’ opposition and directs the clerk to circulate the resolution copies to those identified by the sponsor.