BY: ANNA KAMINSKI
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Almost a week after Senate President Ty Masterson announced he secured the necessary signatures to commit the majority Republican Senate to a special session to redraw Kansas maps to favor an additional Republican Congressional seat, his counterpart in the House gave up the effort.
House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican and candidate for state insurance commissioner, announced Tuesday night that he failed to gather enough signatures in his chamber to jumpstart a special session planned for Friday.
For Masterson, an Andover Republican and gubernatorial candidate, it wasn’t a surprise.
“All it does is change the timing,” he said following an unrelated Wednesday meeting at the Statehouse in Topeka.
“It is what it is,” he said.
Both he and Hawkins have acknowledged how difficult it is to call the Kansas Legislature into a special session. After allocating $460,000 to fund a four-day session, a visit to the White House and obtaining at least half of the signatures needed to call legislators to the capital, the focus has shifted to Jan. 12, the start of the 2026 session.
A special session requires two-thirds of both the state Senate and House members to sign a petition. Republicans planned to gerrymander U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids’ district in the Johnson County area to turn it red. Masterson announced on Oct. 27 that he obtained the necessary two-thirds of member signatures.
Masterson said Wednesday he has a high level of confidence in achieving a Republican agenda to legislate public assistance programs and gender identity issues. When it comes to property taxes and redistricting, however, details are fuzzy.
Property tax relief legislation could evolve as the session progresses, and no concrete proposals have been made.
A redrawn congressional map could also prove challenging. No one has seen what a Kansas map could look like, Masterson said.
“There’s been a ton of maps floated around, but they’re all from third-party people,” he said.
When asked if he’d support a Kansas-driven map rather than one drawn by a national group or other third-party, he paused.
“I think there’s a little nuance there,” he said.
Whether a map is drawn in-state or “whether it’s drawn by a group that does it effectively for states all over the country for us,” Masterson said, is unclear.
Regardless, he said, “It’ll be Kansas-driven.”
Mid-decade redistricting efforts cropped up across the country, beginning first in Texas and spreading to North Carolina, Missouri and Ohio. Democrats added seats in California and Utah. Discussions are underway to add Republican seats in Kansas, Nebraska, Florida and Indiana, and discussions adding Democratic seats have arisen in Illinois, Maryland and Virginia.
House Democratic Leader Brandon Woodard, of Lenexa, said the end of the Republican rush to build support for a special session “makes Kansas the first state to reject President Trump’s proposed redistricting initiative aimed at influencing the 2026 midterm elections.”
Senate Democratic Leader Dinah Sykes said in an interview after the Wednesday meeting that avoiding a special session was a win, but the battle isn’t over.
“On the fact that we are saving Kansas taxpayers $400,000, that is a win,” said Sykes, of Lenexa.
She said Kansas Democrats’ strategy in the wake of redistricting efforts involves engaging constituents to ensure they know “Republicans are trying to lessen their voice” and to make maps are publicly available.
Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, said in a statement that Republican leadership will “continue their attempt at a partisan power grab in January,” despite a lack of support from their caucuses.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s during special or regular session,” Kelly said. “Kansans will continue to speak out against gerrymandered maps drawn by dark money groups and funded by out-of-state special interests.”
Laurel Burchfield, spokesperson for the Kansas Fair Maps Coalition, acknowledged in a Wednesday statement that the redistricting attempt isn’t over.
“Changing the maps mid-decade to rig the system in either political party’s favor is wrong,” Burchfield said. “We urge legislators to focus on what Kansans need the most this upcoming session: lowering costs, making healthcare affordable, and improving our economy.”