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Redistricting in Kansas ahead of the 2026 elections

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Kansas is considering mid-decade redistricting ahead of the 2026 elections. Click here to read more about the ongoing redistricting effort in Kansas and other states.

Redistricting is the process of enacting new district boundaries for elected offices, particularly for offices in the U.S. House of Representatives and state legislatures. This article covers redistricting activity in Kansas after the 2024 elections and before the 2026 elections.
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Redistricting
State legislative and congressional redistricting after the 2020 census
General information
State-by-state redistricting procedures • Majority-minority districts • Gerrymandering
The 2020 cycle
United States census, 2020 • Congressional apportionment • Redistricting committees • Deadlines • 2022 House elections with multiple incumbents • New U.S.House districts created after apportionment • Congressional maps • State legislative maps • Lawsuits • Status of redistricting after the 2020 census
Redrawn maps
Redistricting before 2024 elections • Redistricting before 2026 elections
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Kansas' four United States representatives and 165 state legislators are all elected from political divisions called districts. District lines are redrawn every 10 years following completion of the United States census. Federal law stipulates that districts must have nearly equal populations and must not discriminate on the basis of race or ethnicity.

Congressional districts
Mid-decade redistricting in Kansas ahead of the 2026 elections is ongoing.

Kansas is considering redistricting ahead of the 2026 elections. Kansas previously enacted congressional district boundaries on February 9, 2022, when both the state Senate and House overrode Gov. Laura Kelly's (D) veto of a redistricting plan that the legislature passed. The House of Representatives overrode Kelly’s veto 85-37 on February 9, 2022, with all votes in favor by Republicans, and 36 Democrats and one Republican voting to sustain the veto. The Senate overrode Kelly’s veto 27-11 strictly along party lines on February 8, 2022, with all votes in favor by Republicans and all votes opposed by Democrats.[1] The state Senate originally approved the congressional district map proposal on January 21, 2022, and the state House of Representatives approved it on January 26, 2022.[2][3][4][5] Kelly had vetoed the congressional map on February 3, 2022.

Click here for more information about the congressional maps enacted in Kansas after the 2020 census.

Legislative districts
State legislative redistricting in Kansas after the 2020 census has concluded.

Kansas enacted legislative district boundaries on May 18, 2022, when the Kansas Supreme Court unanimously upheld the validity of the legislative districts that Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) signed into law on April 15, 2022.[6][7] Both chambers of the legislature passed the redistricting legislation on March 30, 2022, after a joint House-Senate conference committee had developed it.[8] The Kansas House of Representatives approved the legislative boundaries, 83-40, and the State Senate approved them, 29-11.[8]After Kelly signed the maps, Andrew Bahl and Rafael Garcia of the Topeka Capital-Journal wrote, "The state Senate and House maps were mildly contested in the Legislature, particularly in the Senate where the map will create a fourth, Democrat-leaning district in Topeka and Lawrence."[9]

Click here for more information about the state legislative maps enacted in Kansas after the 2020 census.

For a complete overview of redistricting in Kansas after the 2020 census, click here.

Summary

See also: Redistricting in Kansas after the 2020 census

This section lists major events in the post-2020 census redistricting cycle in reverse chronological order. Major events include the release of apportionment data, the release of census population data, the introduction of formal map proposals, the enactment of new maps, and noteworthy court challenges. Click the dates below for additional information.

  • October 13, 2025: Kansas state legislative leadership approved a $400,000 special session budget and $60,000 for redistricting licenses amid a signature-gathering effort for a November 7, 2025, special session.[10]

Court challenges

See also: Redistricting lawsuits in the 2020 redistricting cycle

For more information about redistricting lawsuits in Kansas, click here.

Enacted maps

Enacted congressional district maps

See also: Congressional district maps implemented after the 2020 census

On May 18, 2022, the Kansas Supreme Court overturned a district court's ruling that found that the state's enacted congressional district boundaries were unconstitutional. In a two-page order, Justice Caleb Stegall wrote for the court, "A majority of the court holds that, on the record before us, plaintiffs have not prevailed on their claims that Substitute for Senate Bill 355 violates the Kansas Constitution."[11] On April 25, 2022, Wyandotte County District Court Judge Bill Klapper had struck down Kansas' enacted congressional map. The judge's ruling stated, "The Court has no difficulty finding, as a factual matter, that Ad Astra 2 is an intentional, effective pro-Republican gerrymander that systemically dilutes the votes of Democratic Kansans."[12]

Klapper's opinion also said that the state's new district boundaries "intentionally and effectively dilutes minority votes in violation of the Kansas Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection."[12] The ruling had enjoined Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab (R) and local election officials from using the previously enacted maps for the state's upcoming elections and directed the legislature to "enact a remedial plan in conformity with this opinion as expeditiously as possible."[12]

Kansas enacted congressional district boundaries on February 9, 2022, when both the state Senate and House overrode Gov. Laura Kelly's (D) veto of a redistricting plan that the legislature passed. The House of Representatives overrode Kelly’s veto 85-37 on February 9, 2022, with all votes in favor by Republicans, and 36 Democrats and one Republican voting to sustain the veto. The Senate overrode Kelly’s veto 27-11 strictly along party lines on February 8, 2022, with all votes in favor by Republicans and all votes opposed by Democrats.[13] The state Senate originally approved the congressional district map proposal on January 21, 2022, and the state House of Representatives approved it on January 26, 2022.[14][15][16][5] Kelly had vetoed the congressional map on February 3, 2022.

Andrew Bahl of the Topeka Capital-Journal wrote that the "maps were hotly contested, largely for the decision to split Wyandotte County and put part of the Kansas City, Kan., area in the 2nd Congressional District, a move that endangers the state's lone Democrat in Congress, U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, and, Democrats argue, unfairly divides minority communities."[17] John Hanna of the Associated Press wrote that the congressional district plan "politically hurts the state’s only Democrat in Congress, likely plunging Kansas into a national legal brawl amid the contest for control of the U.S. House."[18]

Enacted state legislative district maps

See also: State legislative district maps implemented after the 2020 census

Kansas enacted legislative district boundaries on May 18, 2022, when the Kansas Supreme Court unanimously upheld the validity of the legislative districts that Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) signed into law on April 15, 2022.[19][20] Both chambers of the legislature passed the redistricting legislation on March 30, 2022, after a joint House-Senate conference committee had developed it.[8] The Kansas House of Representatives approved the legislative boundaries, 83-40, and the State Senate approved them, 29-11.[8]After Kelly signed the maps, Andrew Bahl and Rafael Garcia of the Topeka Capital-Journal wrote, "The state Senate and House maps were mildly contested in the Legislature, particularly in the Senate where the map will create a fourth, Democrat-leaning district in Topeka and Lawrence."[21]

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Kansas legislature, "2021-2022 Legislative Sessions, SB 355," accessed February 9, 2022
  2. ↑ Kansas Legislature, "Bills & Laws, SB 355," accessed January 28, 2022
  3. ↑ AP News, "GOP map likely to hinder lone Democrat clears Kansas Senate," January 21, 2022
  4. ↑ Kansas Legislature, "Bills & Laws, SB 355," accessed January 28, 2022
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 AP News, "GOP redistricting plan passes in Kansas; court fight looms," January 26, 2022
  6. ↑ Kansas Supreme Court, "In the Matter of the Petition of DEREK SCHMIDT, Attorney General, to Determine the Validity of Substitute for Senate Bill 563," May 18, 2022
  7. ↑ Kansas, Office of the Governor, "Governor Laura Kelly Signs Redistricting Maps for State House, Senate, Board of Education," April 15, 2022
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Kansas Legislature, "Sub SB563," accessed April 19, 2022
  9. ↑ Topeka Capital-Journal, "Kansas governor signs new legislative, board of education maps, with legal challenge possible," April 16, 2022
  10. ↑ Topeka Capital Journal, "Kansas OKs $460,000 for special redistricting session and maybe more," October 13, 2025
  11. ↑ The Kansas City Star, "Kansas Supreme Court upholds congressional map that splits diverse Wyandotte County," May 18, 2022
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Wyandotte County District Court, Case No. 2022-CV-000089, April 25, 2022
  13. ↑ Kansas legislature, "2021-2022 Legislative Sessions, SB 355," accessed February 9, 2022
  14. ↑ Kansas Legislature, "Bills & Laws, SB 355," accessed January 28, 2022
  15. ↑ AP News, "GOP map likely to hinder lone Democrat clears Kansas Senate," January 21, 2022
  16. ↑ Kansas Legislature, "Bills & Laws, SB 355," accessed January 28, 2022
  17. ↑ The Topeka Capital-Journal, "As legislators successfully overturn veto of Kansas Congressional maps, fight heads to the courts," February 9, 2022
  18. ↑ AP News, "GOP undoes veto of Kansas map hurting Democrat; courts next," February 9, 2022
  19. ↑ Kansas Supreme Court, "In the Matter of the Petition of DEREK SCHMIDT, Attorney General, to Determine the Validity of Substitute for Senate Bill 563," May 18, 2022
  20. ↑ Kansas, Office of the Governor, "Governor Laura Kelly Signs Redistricting Maps for State House, Senate, Board of Education," April 15, 2022
  21. ↑ Topeka Capital-Journal, "Kansas governor signs new legislative, board of education maps, with legal challenge possible," April 16, 2022
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