IMMEDIATE ACTION ALERT -

IMMEDIATE ACTION ALERT

Protecting Southeast Missouri’s Voice in Government

This week, the Missouri House released its initial map on how our congressional districts will be reorganized.  The map included changing the current dynamics of a rural focused district to a more urban and industrial focused district by expanding the 8^th District to include the St. Louis region by adding 103,000 people from Jefferson County (see map below).  The House committee chair, who is from St. Louis and charged with redrawing the district has gone on record saying under his map, “you can make the argument that St. Louis has four” districts since the St. Louis region would now partially fall in the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and 8^th districts.

         Shifting the center of the district from Southeast Missouri to St. Louis is extremely harmful in how you are represented.  The issues important to St. Louis are not the same issues that are important to Southeast Missouri.  For instance, consider how Southeast Missouri differed from the St. Louis area on Proposition B through last November’s vote:

·      60% of Jefferson County voted FOR Proposition B

·      64% of the current 8^th district voted AGAINST Proposition B

If your Congressional Representative is working for St. Louis instead of Southeast Missouri, your feelings on many of the issues that impact you will no longer be important to your Congressional Representative.   

Every 10 years, the General Assembly is constitutionally charged with the responsibility to redraw the districts that represent you in Congress based on population growth and decreases.  Because Missouri’s population decreased since 2000, the process of redrawing maps is even more difficult this year because Missouri lost a congressional seat.  However, this should not mean Southeast Missouri’s voice in the U.S. Congress should be sold out to St. Louis.  

ALERT ALERT ALERT

Next week the House will vote on the proposed map that in my opinion weakens your voice in favor of strengthening St. Louis’ voice.  It is CRITICAL that state representatives hear from as many of you as possible in the next few days about the importance of not selling out Southeast Missouri’s representation in the U.S. Congress by including 103,000 Jefferson County residents in the 8^th congressional district.  Below is the contact information for the state representatives in the 8^th district and I ask that you join me in protecting Southeast Missouri’s voice in government by contacting them and urging them to vote NO on this damaging map.    

State Representatives in the 8^th Congressional District

         The maps below compare what the House chair has proposed to include the 8^th district with St. Louis against the current 8^th district: