Missouri’s congressional maps made headlines last week after some state officials launched a last-ditch effort to implement newly redrawn maps less than two months before the midterm elections. The new maps, which attempted to create one sole Democratic district in the entire state, were rejected both by the court of public opinion and the Supreme Court of the United States (twice!).
Jess Piper, Executive Director of Blue Missouri, joined Jen to discuss the maps’s first SCOTUS decision and the redistricting referendum that will take place on Election Day. Speaking as a lifelong Missouri resident and advocate for rural people, Piper underscores that voters in Missouri are pushing back against Republicans and standing up for their democratic rights.
Jess Piper is the Executive Director for Blue Missouri. She is also the author of The View from Rural Missouri Substack page.
*Please note that this interview was recorded before the second SCOTUS decision regarding Missouri redistricting.
The following transcript has been edited for formatting purposes.
Jen Rubin
Hi, this is Jen Rubin, Editor in Chief at The Contrarian. I am delighted to have back with us Jess Piper. Jess is the Executive Director of Blue Missouri. She is also the author, the founder, the brains behind The View from Rural Missouri, which is a must-read Substack. Welcome, Jess, it’s great to see you!
Jess Piper
It’s so good to be with you again, Jen. We’ve got a lot to talk about.
Jen Rubin
We sure have. Your Secretary of State, your Attorney General, have been trying to keep the people of Missouri from deciding who they want to vote to, vote for, in what districts they want to vote for, and they have tried to mess up voting like nobody’s business. Tell us what has happened. And bring us up to date on the latest, which is, of all things, finally, the U.S. Supreme Court does the right thing? That’s how bad things have gotten in Missouri.
Jess Piper
Yes, Brett! Thank you, Brett Kavanaugh, of all people, right? We’re alluding to, it’s hard to know what’s happening because there’s something different happening in, you know, every minute, but in… at 2 o’clock our time, so in 28 minutes, our Secretary of State could be found in contempt of the Missouri Supreme Court. He had a meeting earlier this morning with them, his attorneys were very aggressive, which apparently is not a great thing to do when you’re standing in front of Supreme Court judges. And they told our Secretary of State, don’t you go far, right? Don’t be leaving, going anywhere. So, it all goes back to Trump. Way back, you know, several months ago, decided that he wanted Missouri to only have one Democratic representative, so they gerrymandered a map. This map was not created in Missouri. We think it would probably come from the White House, because nobody can explain where this map came from. And what they’re trying to do is take away Kansas City’s Black congressional representative, Emmanuel Cleaver, who’s been over there. at DC for over 20 years, and they’re trying to gerrymander his map to bring in a whole lot of white rural voters to, you know, try to make this a 7-1 state, which is outrageous, right? I mean, because if you look at our registered voters, over 30% are registered as Democrats, over 17% are registered as independents, and to try to say that we only deserve one member. It’s just outrageous.
Jen Rubin
So, this would have essentially made it virtually impossible for the one African-American representative to hold his seat. It would also have bolstered Ann Wagner, who is in a different district, who is a vulnerable, not very popular Republican. So, they come along, they put this map out, but then. The people decide, no, we’d like a say, we’d like a referendum. But what did the Republicans do at that point? Well, what did they say? Let the people have their say? Or they said, no way, we’re gonna tell you who to vote for.
Jess Piper
This is Missouri. They never say, let the people have their say. We’re one of 27 states with ballot initiatives, so we can collect signatures and put things on the ballot, just like we did when they overturned Roe in Missouri and said, you know what? We still think Missouri women have the right to access an abortion. So we put it on the ballot, and it won. Well, guess what, Jen? Over a year passed where you still could not access an abortion, even though every woman in this state had a constitutional right, because the GOP was still like, no, you don’t get to decide what you do. We decide what you do. And so, with our referendum process, you can see, you can look at Missouri and go, this is not a red state. This is not a red state. They beat back right to work. We got rid of puppy mills. You know, we raised the minimum wage. We made sure that workers had access to paid sick time off. We’ve… we have legalized weed. I mean, this state is just insane, but we keep electing these GOP lawmakers who undo the will of the people. Now. I will tell you, this is… this is likely to change this year. When I ran, I ran for office in 22, and I’ve said this a thousand times, there were 40% of the seats that were uncontested in 22. This year in Missouri. 2% are uncontested. 2%. So we see that people now have someone to vote for, and that’s dangerous for what they are trying to do in this state. They don’t want us to have anyone to vote for. They want to be, you know, the sole voice. They want to consolidate power, which is why they have to gerrymander, because they know. They know what we will do if we are given access to the ballot.
Jen Rubin
So… The people of Missouri came out with a referendum. They said, no, we want a fair map. The Republicans decide, no, we’re gonna disallow that referendum, you have to take our gerrymandered maps. It went to your state Supreme Court. Not exactly a bastion of liberalism. Unanimously! What did they decide?
Jess Piper
They decided that they had to put our referendum on the ballot, and that they had to stop that illegal map, which is called HB1, and they had to go back to the original maps that we have voted on. You have to remember, this map should have never been created, because this is, you know, mid, a census. You can’t just say, well, I’m changing the boundaries now. That’s against our Constitution. But you’re realizing much like we see happening in DC. They don’t care about the Constitution. They do what they want. But you’re right, the Supreme Court, which in Missouri, you know, has been… those people have been appointed by, you know, Republican governors, they still recognize that this… that our Constitution, is the ultimate law. So when Denny got that slap on… on his hand and said, no, you… you can’t just, you know, do any map you want. He said, well, I’m gonna go to the Supreme Court. I’m gonna go to Brett Kavanaugh. What did Brett Kavanaugh do? twice? No! You have to follow your state’s constitution, and you can’t do this.
Jen Rubin
And Denny Hoskins is your Republican… Secretary of State. After the ruling from Brett Kavanaugh, he nevertheless sent out a notice to all of the state officials, don’t follow him, follow the map I want. And that’s what landed him back for a contempt proceeding. It’s not very often that a conservative Supreme Court Calls in and essentially hollers at the state? the Secretary of State, with the State Attorney General there, Don’t you get it, buddy? You gotta follow the rules. He was a pretty extraordinary tongue lashing.
Jess Piper
It really was, and you know, Denny was really asking for this, and this goes back to, you know, just the way they feel like they can do anything they want. the hubris they have. He shows up in this red coat everywhere, right? Which I think is ironic. He is a red coat. But, he wrote on social media that, the liberals and the people voting against him and the media in Missouri, and this is his words, could suck it. He said that on social media, and I… I mean, it’s… it’s not privated. I mean, obviously, the Supreme Court members can read what he is saying about them, and so I think that’s why. You’re in contempt. You know, and he shows up over and over again, and just does what he wants. And I was talking to my husband about it earlier, and I was like, if I showed up to court and told a, you know, Supreme Court judge they could suck it, I think I would be under the jail right now. Yeah, exactly. Immediately.
Jen Rubin
Exactly! Taking a step back from all of the particulars. Are the people of Missouri getting angry that Republicans are basically telling them they don’t matter, their votes don’t count? This is just a direct assault against democracy. Have people figured this out yet?
Jess Piper
They truly have. And it’s hard to figure things out right now if you’re not, like we are, invested 24-7 in news. People are working 2 or 3 jobs. I mean, diesel is $5 a gallon now, where I am, where we all rely on diesel. So things are tough, but people are. I’ve read several reports where people are like, you know, I’m not a partisan person, I usually voted for Republicans, but they’re not listening to us. Jen, once they overturned, because we did pass, you know, guaranteed sick time for every worker in this state, and our Republican representatives overrode us with a vote at the beginning of the year, and they took away that earned sick time that people were counting on. I mean, look at Mitch McConnell. I mean, you know, some people can get, you know, years of paid sick leave, and in Missouri, you can’t get 8 hours after you’ve worked an entire year. That pushed it over the edge for a lot of people. They were like, that… you know, almost 60% of the population voted for that, and for them to rip that away from us really opened people’s eyes. These people are over their skis. They think they can do anything, and they’re about to be proven wrong.
Jen Rubin
And that is a perfect segue. You have some referendums of amendments that are going to be on the ballot in November. One of them would deal with this kind of issue, would stop the state legislature from simply wiping out what referendum, really require. Talk to us a little bit about that. I think that’s Amendment 6, if I’m correct. How does that work, and is that going to help people recognize, no, we’re in control, not those guys?
Jess Piper
Right. Amendment 6, and if you’re from Missouri, we’re going to vote yes on Amendment 6. So, what we want to do is take our power back and say, just like when we passed the puppy mill law, because Missouri is the number one state on the horrible 100 list for puppy mills, and back in 2011, we said, you can’t have more than 50 animals breeding. That’s a lot, Jen. And that was too far for our legislators, so going all the way back over a decade, they have been taking the teeth out of every law that we have enacted. Amendment 6 would say, you can’t do that anymore. If we pass a referendum, you have to listen to it, you have to follow it. And we saw them absolutely, you know, get lit on fire just in August because we had two initiatives. One, both from our GOP lawmakers. One was to eliminate sales tax, or eliminate income tax, which would have blown our budget, completely, would have defunded every school, every police department, every fire department. It lost… we voted against that by 84%. The next one, I mean, we just keep blowing them out of the water, and so they don’t realize what they have done, because you look around, you’re like, this place is red, it’s never gonna change, it is what it is. Sorry, that’s not the truth. People are sick of it, and Trump fatigue is real. Seeing some man act like a lunatic every single day on your phone, on your TV, I mean, we’re getting $2,000 checks, $5,000 checks to get money to stay home. I mean, people are just like. They’re full of crap, and I don’t trust them anymore, and I don’t trust the people who stand behind this man, and I think this is gonna be a massive… we’re gonna see massive play out, you know, in a few weeks, in November.
Jen Rubin
Well, this is what happens when you kick the bear, when you poke the bear with the stick. You mentioned abortion. There’s also going to be an abortion measure on the ballot. Despite the fact that it’s a conservative state. A lot of religious voters. Missouri doesn’t really like the idea of criminalizing abortion. Talk to us a little bit about Amendment 3, what that’s gonna do, and whether you think Missouri voters are gonna defend a woman’s right to make these decisions with her pastor, her priest, her doctor, her family.
Jess Piper
Again, right? We already voted for this two years ago, and it passed, saying that women have a constitutional right. They’re putting it back on the ballot, and funnily enough, they’re using the same exact Amendment 3, that’s what we were before, but before, if you wanted rights for women, you voted for yes, and now, in this election, if you want rights for women, you have to vote no. So they’re trying to confuse everybody. They’re trying to conflate abortion access to, transition surgery for transgender minors. That is actually in the ballot language. So, anything they can do to confuse people, which, by the way, in Missouri, is already illegal. You can’t even prescribe hormones for someone 18, without going through a massive process, much less transgender, transitioning. So, they’re throwing everything at it, trying to take away our rights again, and I think Missourians are seeing all the way through this. I mean, I have people who will just contact me and go, how are you voting? Because that’s how I’m gonna vote, because I’m sick of these people, right?
Jen Rubin
Exactly, and that’s what they rely on, that people will get confused. Yes, no, you have to read it, you have to figure out which position goes with which vote. The last issue I want to talk to you about is this Amendment 7. Lots of states have made changes in state income tax. They say, alright, we want to go to a different system. But we’re not gonna throw the baby out with the bathwater. You’re gonna have to make up the difference. Unless you have a sales tax that’s X amount, you can’t get rid of… the income tax. These guys essentially want to get rid of the income tax, no guarantee they’re going to make up the money, no guarantee that the sales tax, for example, on food, won’t go through the roof. What do they have in mind here? And what would this do to Missouri government if, in fact, you got rid of the income tax with no guaranteed replacement or a sales tax that was so expensive, people couldn’t afford to buy things like food?
Jess Piper
Yeah, the income tax, supports 64% of Missouri’s budget. 64%. Now, you should know that Missouri is already 48th in educational funding and 49th in teacher pay, so pulling away 64% of the money that we use towards schools and roads and all these things is just going to be disastrous. This is the one that we absolutely torched just a few months ago in August. It’s going to happen again. But the whole point of the matter, this was brought forth by Americans for Prosperity. This has been going on for 2 years. They came to my town, Americans for Prosperity, which is Coke-supported, Coke money, trying to get rid of, you know, the libertarians trying to get rid of every single tax, imaginable. They came two years ago to my little town, and there was a hairdresser sitting in the back. And she said, now wait! We don’t… my customers don’t pay tax to have their hair done. And she said, would this force that? And they were like, well, probably. And she said, I don’t know what I’d do if a haircut’s a… a haircut’s $100, and this is gonna go up to 18%. They’re talking about sales tax being 18%. Well, we know who’s gonna pay for that. Every person on a restricted budget, every person who is, you know, on Social Security, everyone who is concerned about groceries already is going to pay 18% more at Walmart and Hy-Vee and every place they go to buy their groceries. This is a non-starter. This absolutely will not pass unless they’re able to trick our voters into it. Which, Jen, you know, they always plan to do, is plan to trick us with ballot candy, and, just by straight-up lying. But we know who this came from. It came from the Koch brothers. They are reaching into every state, trying to pull back, the income tax that the wealthy don’t want to pay.
Jen Rubin
It’s extraordinary. Jess, what are you most concerned about in November? Are you most concerned that they’re gonna mess around with mail-in balloting? that people will be apathetic. What’s your big concern? Because, for once, Democrats have the issues. For once, you actually have people on the ballot. You know, you’re, like you said, they’re filling each of those slots. What’s your big concern?
Jess Piper
That they’re gonna mess with the voting. I’m not seeing a lot of apathy. I’m seeing a whole… well, I am seeing apathy, but it’s with the Republicans. I’ve heard a lot of people say, hey, I’m not voting for a Democrat, I’m just not voting at all. I’m like, do what you need to do, friend.
Jen Rubin
Exactly!
Jess Piper
You need to stay home, stay home. But I’m afraid that Missouri is a test case for what they can do, what an AG and what a Secretary of State can do. And this is why it’s very important for people to pay attention to red states, because they figured out a long time ago, right? They didn’t need a coup to take over the whole country. They needed 20 or 25 red states to take over the country. When you’ve got a Secretary of State and an Attorney General at the whim of a lunatic. in power, in DC, these things happen. So, Missouri is a laboratory of autocracy, just like Iowa, just like Ohio, just like Oklahoma, all these places. They’re throwing, you know, spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks, and then they take those things nationwide. So we have, in Missouri, proven that you can mess around, you can go all the way to the Supreme Court. This is… this is very simple. I mean, elections fall under, you know, state authority. And don’t… I thought the Republicans loved states’ rights, right?
Jen Rubin
Yeah, yeah, isn’t that funny? Isn’t that funny? Well, Jess, this is exciting. You have been working for how many years to get Missouri voters to wake up, and it took Donald Trump and this crew in Missouri to really make a difference. Final thoughts? What do you say to Missouri voters who say, oh, my vote doesn’t really make a difference, or nothing’s gonna change? Is this the election where they can finally make a difference?
Jess Piper
I think so, and they have really, made us apathetic by letting us vote on things and then throwing them out the window. Abortion, you know, paid sick leave, all those things. I want my friends to know that it does matter, that they counted on you not voting, they counted on you not having someone to vote for, and I’m looking around and seeing this enthusiasm and people ready to do whatever they need to do in August. I know we’re gonna make changes. I know we’re gonna see big things from Iowa, we’re gonna see big things from all of these states that people have walked away and given up on, because it matters, every community matters, every person matters, and we’re seeing that, with Democrats reaching out into spaces like mine and saying, you know, we haven’t been here for a while, but we’re back, and we’re paying attention, and we’re gonna fight for you, especially against these Lunatics in power, right?
Jen Rubin
Amazing. Jess, you are doing phenomenal work. You’ve been working at this for years before it was fashionable. So, best of luck, and folks, remember, Blue Missouri and her Substack, which is a must-read. We will be following it, because suddenly, Missouri has become like a swing state. Who thought? Thanks so much for joining us, Jess. Great seeing you. We’ll talk to you soon.
Jess Piper
Thanks, Jen. See you soon!
Jen Rubin
Bye-bye.
