Kansas GOP strips fellow Republicans of committee assignments after redistricting vote

Member of the Kansas GOP Senate caucus are set to be stripped of their committee assignments after not voting against the Democratic governor’s veto of their party’s redistricting plans.

State Senate President Ty Masterton said earlier this week that he would strip Sens. Mark Steffen, Dennis Pyle, Mark Steffen, and Alicia Straub from several committees after they voted with Democrats to uphold Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of proposed congressional redistricting maps. 

"To maintain unity in the caucus, these changes were necessary," Masteron said about his decision. 

Republicans in the Kansas legislature were nevertheless able to gather enough votes to override Kelly’s veto, putting the GOP in a stronger position to unseat Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids in the fall. 

Davids, representing Kansas’s 3rd congressional district, has served since 2019. She he is the lone Democratic member representing the state in either the House or the Senate.