(TOPEKA, Kan.)—
The Kansas Legislature's bitter impasse over redistricting could become an issue in election campaigns this year.The state's major political factions are attempting to fix blame for a stalemate that forced federal judges to redraw political boundaries. The lawsuit may stick taxpayers with big legal bills.
Democrats, conservative Republicans and GOP moderates all working to have voters accept their preferred narratives to explain why the Legislature failed to pass a single new political map.
The impasse led to a federal lawsuit, and three judges redrew congressional, legislative and State Board of Education districts to account for population changes over the past decade.
The judges still must determine which of the people who sued will have their legal bills covered by the state. Attorneys have filed requests totaling more than $669,000.
