The fight for fair U.S. House maps is raging in Missouri.
Late last month, Republican state lawmakers rushed gerrymandered House maps into law, designed to skew the GOP's Congressional delegation majority from 6-2 to 7-1 by distributing Democratic-leaning neighborhoods into more reliably Republican districts. Now, MVP partner People Not Politicians Missouri is mobilizing a massive grassroots effort to overturn the maps and protect fair representation.
People Not Politicians, with the help of 3,000 volunteers, has launched a monumental signature-gathering effort to force a statewide referendum on the new district lines. If they successfully gather more than 106,000 signatures, they will effectively prevent the gerrymandered map from taking effect unless the people of Missouri vote in 2026 to approve it.
Photo: People Not Politicians Missouri
In a recent NPR article, Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians, was quoted as saying this:
"Our campaign has gathered signatures at a historic pace — I've never seen Missourians unite and mobilize this quickly. We will not be intimidated or distracted. This referendum will qualify, and Missourians — not politicians — will decide the future of fair representation in our state."
Photo: People Not Politicians Missouri
To get a sense of the grassroots energy driving this campaign, watch this short video showing the massive turnout at a Kansas City volunteer signature-collection training.
Photo: People Not Politicians Missouri
And, in this short clip, you'll see People Not Politicians volunteer Paris Mendoza talking about why she personally has chosen to get involved:
"I’m from Kansas City. Born and raised here. Our state government is trying to suppress people of color’s votes. And I don’t want my vote to be suppressed.
"(….) I myself am new to, like, you know, stepping out. This is, like, out of my comfort zone. But I think you should practice your constitutional right. I just want to make a difference, honestly. And I think doing this will definitely make a difference."
People Not Politicians has already gathered over 100,000 signatures and plans to continue over the next two months, until a December 11 submission deadline.
To keep up the momentum, the group is holding volunteer trainings and signature-gathering, petition drop-off, and notarization events in St. Louis, St. Peters, Columbia, Jefferson City, and elsewhere across the state.
