TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas House approved a plan Saturday for redrawing the state's four congressional districts backed by the chamber's conservative Republican leaders, as a moderate GOP senator enmeshed in disputes over political maps moved to jump into a federal lawsuit on redistricting.
The House's vote was 64-51 on a measure that drew criticism over how it split Lawrence, home to the University of Kansas and widely regarded as a liberal enclave. Part of the city would go into the 1st Congressional District of western and central Kansas, where its Democratic votes would be overwhelmed by GOP votes from rural communities 400 miles or more away.
The bill went to the Senate, where President Steve Morris, a moderate Hugoton Republican, was skeptical it would pass, though he said he wouldn't block a vote. Senate Reapportionment Committee Chairman Tim Owens, a moderate Overland Park Republican, scoffed at it.
"It's just another joke," Owens said. "It's absolutely meaningless."
No redistricting proposal has cleared the Legislature because of a bitter feud between GOP conservatives and moderates over redrawing the Senate's 40 districts. The maps could help determine which Republican camp controls the Legislature after this year's elections.
The impasse — with Owens at the center, because of his chairmanship — threatens to delay the state's Aug. 7 primary election. He now wants to intervene in the federal redistricting lawsuit.
The latest congressional redistricting plan draws slightly more Republican districts for three of the four members of the state's all-GOP U.S. House delegation; the exception is 1st District Rep. Tim Huelskamp. Both chambers have approved a map previously, only to have the other kill it.
Conservatives said splitting Lawrence is acceptable partly because the city is now divided between the 2nd District of eastern Kansas and the 3rd District, centered on the Kansas City metropolitan area. The portion of the city that would stay in the 2nd under the latest plan includes the University of Kansas campus.
"It's very fair," said House Majority Leader Arlen Siegfreid, an Olathe Republican.
Owens filed a request Saturday in U.S. District Court to intervene in the redistricting lawsuit. He's among nine people, including House Minority Leader Paul Davis, a Lawrence Democrat, asking to intervene. Gov. Sam Brownback, a conservative Republican, said he may also seek to intervene. Such requests are due by Monday.
A hearing before three federal judges is scheduled to begin May 29.
The lawsuit was filed by Robyn Renee Essex, a Republican precinct committee member from Olathe, and it names Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a GOP conservative and the state's chief elections officer, as the defendant. The people seeking to intervene argue that neither Essex nor Kobach can adequately represent their interests.
The redistricting lawsuit is Robyn Renee Essex v. Kansas Secretary of State, No. 12-cv04046 in the U.S. District Court for Kansas.
Online:
U.S. District Court for Kansas: https://ecf.ksd.uscourts.gov/
Kansas Legislature's redistricting site: http://redistricting.ks.gov
Follow John Hanna on Twitter at www.twitter.com/apjdhanna