TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas House Speaker Mike O’Neal is no longer pushing for a congressional redistricting plan that would split the Kansas City area between two districts.
O’Neal, a Hutchinson Republican, took that stance Wednesday even though the House rejected an alternate plan that would have kept Kansas City in a single district.
The vote was 76-48 against that measure.
But O’Neal said the fact that an alternative to his plan emerged from House debate shows that many lawmakers don’t want to divide the Kansas City area.
He said the alternate plan probably failed over other issues. It dramatically redrew U.S. House district lines in south-central and southeast Kansas.
O’Neal says the House Redistricting Committee will work on a new plan next week.
