As Kansas prepares for redistricting special session, another big deadline looms
The last time Kansas lawmakers held a special session, they emerged with an aggressive incentive plan to lure the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals across the state line.
This time around, bipartisan goodwill and shared sports fandom will likely be in short supply.
On Monday, Republican leaders approved $460,000 to cover the expenses of a potential legislative special session in November. They’re aiming to redraw Kansas’ congressional map and gerrymander U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, the state’s only federally elected Democrat, out of office.
Plans aren’t finalized — a petition circulating among lawmakers still needs the signatures of two-thirds of members in the House and Senate — but momentum is firmly on the side of reconvening in Topeka next month.
So, how might a bitter fight over political representation impact Kansas’ ongoing stadium negotiations ahead of a rapidly approaching Dec. 31 deadline?
According to Senate President Ty Masterson, the redistricting blitz would in no way jeopardize the state’s chances of landing a stadium megaproject before the end of the year.
“A redistricting special session and stadium negotiations have no connection. We will be able to pursue both effectively without affecting the other,” said Masterson, an Andover Republican who’s running for governor next year.
“At this point, hypotheticals only distract from the real issues at hand,” he added.
Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat who has criticized the gerrymandering push, said she still believes a stadium deal is possible — but it might take longer than expected.
The Dec. 31 deadline for a deal with one or both teams is artificial, she said, because the incentive law that lawmakers renewed in July doesn’t expire until after June 30, 2026.
“Statute says they have until June, technically, because we extended the negotiations,” Sykes said.
Negotiations with Chiefs and Royals
The June 2024 incentive package, passed during a special session and signed into law by Gov. Laura Kelly, authorizes Kansas to issue billions of dollars in sales tax and revenue, or STAR bonds, to fund up to 70% of new stadium costs for one or both teams.
It empowers Lt. Gov. David Toland to negotiate directly with the teams in his role as commerce secretary, and to present a deal to a group of top lawmakers charged with handling business while the Legislature is out of session.
A spokesperson for the Kansas Department of Commerce declined to provide an update on negotiations or to speculate on whether logistics of a deal could be complicated by a divisive redistricting fight.
“Kansas Department of Commerce continues to conduct a careful analysis of costs and benefits as part of crafting agreements to keep the Chiefs and Royals in the region while maximizing growth opportunities for Kansas,” spokesperson Patrick Lowry said in an email.
“Because all major economic development projects require discretion and confidentiality, the department will have no further comment regarding negotiations,” Lowry said.
Sykes said she hasn’t received any recent updates from Commerce on the status of negotiations.
“The latest that I’ve got is kind of what’s out in the news,” she said.
Rep. Sean Tarwater, a Stilwell Republican who was instrumental in crafting the STAR bond incentive package, said he believes Toland speaks with representatives from both teams “almost on a daily basis.”
What happens after Dec. 31?
The driving force behind the end-of-the-year deadline for locking in a stadium deal was House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican who is running for state insurance commissioner.
In the lead-up to the July meeting where top lawmakers extended the incentive offer, Hawkins repeatedly suggested he would oppose any extension past June 30. He changed his tune after Chiefs team president Mark Donovan penned a letter requesting more time.
But Hawkins said he had no intention of giving the teams another full year to play Kansas and Missouri officials off each other for a better deal.
“I want this done by Dec. 31, 2025. I want there to be nothing hanging out there when we come into session (in January),” Hawkins said at the July 7 meeting.
“Even though the statute is out there until June 30 of ‘26 — as the (Legislative Coordinating Council), we can say that we are not going to accept anything after Dec. 31,” Hawkins added.
His motion to cut off negotiations at the end of the year ultimately passed. Hawkins did not respond to a request to comment for this story.
Senate Vice President Tim Shallenburger, a Baxter Springs Republican, said he’s far from confident that a potentially multi-billion-dollar stadium deal will fall into place before the end of the year.
“I don’t know where they are in the process, but I think if they’re going to move to Kansas, they’ll have to find land, get options,” Shallenburger said. “I think if much of that would have happened, you’d know about it. I haven’t heard much.”
Shallenburger said he agreed that redistricting is “irrelevant” to the conversation about stadium negotiations.
But he said he harbors concerns that redrawing Kansas’ congressional map could backfire on Republicans by potentially making multiple districts competitive.
“It’s not my call,” Shallenburger said of redistricting.
“I’m not enthusiastic. I’ll do it. I mean, we’ll have to look at the maps.”
Pressure to finalize plans for a special session could ramp up further this week as Republican lawmakers head to Washington, D.C. for a state leadership conference organized by the White House. President Trump has used his bully pulpit to urge GOP-controlled states to redraw maps in service of helping the party preserve its slim majority in the U.S. House in next year’s midterm election.
Republicans’ previous attempt to gerrymander Davids out of office failed. In 2022, after a controversial new map that divided Wyandotte County was upheld by the Kansas Supreme Court, Davids increased her margin of victory over 2020. In 2024, she also cruised to a double-digit win.
This story was originally published October 15, 2025 at 1:59 PM.