By Adam Allington / St. Louis Public Radio
ST. LOUIS – A new report released yesterday shows Missouri losing one of its nine Congressional seats after the 2012 presidential election.
According to the report from Election Data Services, six states stand to gain seats and eight stand to lose, including one seat in Missouri and one in Illinois.
If that happens, University of Missouri-St. Louis Political Science Professor David Robertson said that the state legislature will be charged with redistricting, and that could turn into a fierce political showdown.
"The Legislature, which probably will have a Republican majority will undoubtedly draw a map that favors the Republican Party gaining as many, or keeping as many seats as possible," Robertson said. "However it has to go through the Democratic governor who undoubtedly will resist."
The prediction is not definite, but rather an extrapolation of what federal census figures may say when they're totaled in December.
If Missouri loses a Congressional seat it will mean slightly less political clout and one less vote in the Electoral College.