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Politics & Government

Redistricting in Missouri Likely Means Voters Will Soon See New Faces

Clayton and Richmond Heights are among the cities affected by the changes approved Wednesday by the Missouri General Assembly.

Patch is pleased to partner with Brian R. Hook, editor and investigative reporter for Missouri Watchdog, a news website dedicated to investigative journalism about local, state and federal government across Missouri. We've invited Hook to contribute a weekly column that describes what he's watching and why it's important for Missouri taxpayers.

It’s not like Rep. Russ Carnahan didn’t see it coming.

Ever since the U.S. Census Bureau announced in December that Missouri was one of 10 states to lose a congressional seat, the working assumption has been that the Missouri Republican Party would do everything in its powers to eliminate the  3rd District, represented by the Democrat.

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After a few dust-ups, the Missouri General Assembly—controlled by Republicansvoted Wednesday  to override the governor’s veto of the state’s redistricting map, making the map final barring legal challenges.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, vetoed House Bill 193 on Saturday, sending it back to the state legislature and giving hope to some Democrats that the 3rd District would be saved.

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But it was not to be. In a historic vote, seven Democrats joined with Republicans in the first override of a gubernatorial veto since 2003 and only the seventh veto override since 1875. The Missouri General Assembly has never voted to override a gubernatorial veto of a redistricting proposal.

Where does this leave Carnahan? He will either need to run in the new 1st District against fellow Democrat Rep. William Lacy Clay or in the the new 2nd District in which Rep. Todd Akin, a Republican, is serving.

But Akin is widely expected to enter the race for Senate. As , that opens a whole Pandora’s box of political possibilities.

Parts of the 3rd District went to the 8th District, served by Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, a Republican. It will cover parts of southeast Missouri down in the Bootheel all the way up into Jefferson County.

The rest of the 3rd District got folded into the 2nd District, which will include south St. Louis County and encompass dozens of suburbs all the way north into St. Charles County.

Meanwhile, parts of the 1st District moved south and west, including parts of Clayton and Richmond Heights.

Voters across the St. Louis region are likely to see some new faces as the 2012 election season get underway.

Contact Brian R. Hook by emailing brhook@missouriwatchdog.org or by calling 314-482-7944. For news updates, sign up for his newsletter and follow Missouri Watchdog on Twitter and Facebook.

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