TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas House members are considering a redistricting bill that would split the city of Topeka between two congressional districts.
The bill up for debate Wednesday adjusts the lines of the state’s four U.S. House districts to account for changes in population over the past decade.
Topeka is now entirely in the 2nd District of eastern Kansas, but the bill would extend the 1st District of western and central Kansas into the capital city.
The 1st District would take in the Statehouse and heavily minority neighborhoods in the eastern part of the city. Republican-leaning, predominantly white neighborhoods in the city’s west side would remain in the 2nd District.
The 1st District is nearly 58,000 residents short of the ideal population of about 713,000, but Topeka lawmakers strongly oppose splitting the city.
