Alexandra Middlewood, chair of the political science department at Wichita State University, said Kansas Republicans may have been mistaken in gerrymandering left-leaning Lawrence into the 1st congressional district with immigrant youth of southwest Kansas. Eventually, she said during a Dole Institute forum, the GOP district might be competitive for Democratic candidates. (Kansas Reflector screen capture of Dole Institute’s YouTube channel)
LAWRENCE — Wichita State University political science chairwoman Alexandra Middlewood suspects Kansas Republicans made a tactical error by gerrymandering left-leaning Lawrence into the conservative, rural 1st congressional district that extends to the Colorado border.
Lawrence was removed from the 2nd District of U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, a Republican, and buried in the 1st District controlled by hard-right GOP U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann. In exchange, LaTurner absorbed part of Democrat-rich Wyandotte County stripped from U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, the 3rd District Democrat. This remapping exercise was designed to undercut support for Davids, but she won reelection in 2022.