Missouri GOP Chair: Redistricting battle 'larger than any one person'

SEDALIA, Mo. – Despite it being a relatively quiet off-year election cycle, Mike Kehoe’s first Governor’s Ham Breakfast as Missouri’s chief executive made headlines.

Most notably, Gov. Kehoe said he hadn’t made up his mind regarding redistricting proposals, including whether or not to call a special session this fall to look at the issue.

“You want to make sure that what you're doing is in the right direction and that you have as many people on board as possible,” Kehoe said in a press conference after the ham breakfast. “And I'm not saying we are at that point or not at that point, but it's a process when you think about that.”

“It's a big decision,” he said. “It's not something I take lightly.”

The chair of the state GOP said the chatter over which seat Republicans would target has nothing to do with him, personally.

“There's nothing personal about this at all,” Peter Kinder, former lieutenant governor and current chairman of the Missouri Republican Party, said. “Congressman Cleaver's a friend and a decent man, but this is larger than any one person.”

U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt said the Missouri Legislature should follow the lead of what Democrats have done in other states.

“Democrats have gerrymandered for a very, very long time, and so I don't have any issue with the reapportionment that's allowed into the state constitution,” the Republican senator said. “I think they're going to move forward with that and they should.”