Emanuel Cleaver II Secures 12th Term in Missouri Congressional Race

Cleaver Secures 12th Term as Courts Force Missouri to Use Old Congressional Map

Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II won a 12th term in Congress on Tuesday night, defeating Republican state Sen. Rick Brattin in Missouri’s 5th District with 69.5% of the vote to Brattin’s 28.1%, KCUR reported. Libertarian Randall Langkraehr received 2%.

The victory came after an unusual election year in which Missouri Republicans attempted to redraw Cleaver’s Kansas City district to make it more favorable to the GOP, only for the courts to require the state to use its old congressional map on Election Day. With 99% of precincts reporting, Cleaver held a commanding lead that mirrored his previous wins in 2022 and 2024, when he also carried the district by more than 60%.

A Map Fight That Reached the Supreme Court

The path to Tuesday’s result stretched back months through a maze of legal battles that ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court. After Missouri Republicans pushed through a new congressional map in 2025 that split Kansas City among three separate districts, a group of petitioners fought to put the gerrymandered map up for voter approval. They succeeded, meaning Cleaver ran in the same district he had represented since 2004—the 2022 map that includes all of Kansas City south of the Missouri River.

Cleaver to represent Missouri's 5th Congressional District for another term

The proposed 2025 map would have stretched the 5th District nearly 200 miles east from Troost Avenue, combining deep blue portions of the city with more Republican areas in central Missouri. But in September, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the November general election must use the 2022 congressional map. That same month, the court also ruled that a ballot initiative asking voters to approve the redrawn map must appear on November ballots. Missouri voters ultimately rejected Proposition A, ensuring the 2025 map cannot be used in future elections.

Two Maps, Two Elections

The legal uncertainty created a split election calendar. Because the battles were still ongoing in August, the primary election was conducted using the Republican-leaning 2025 districts. Cleaver faced no Democratic challenger in that contest, while Brattin beat out five other Republican candidates. But when November arrived, voters cast ballots using the 2022 boundaries, meaning Brattin—who lives in Cass County and represents Cass, Johnson and Bates counties in the Missouri Senate—was running in a district where none of his current state Senate constituents actually lived under the 2022 map.

Brattin, a former Missouri state representative who has served in the Senate since 2021, aligned his campaign closely with President Donald Trump’s agenda and earned Trump’s endorsement in August.

A Career Spanning City Hall and Capitol Hill

Cleaver’s win extends a tenure in Washington that began in 2004. He was first elected to Congress in 2004 and has now been reelected 10 times before Tuesday’s victory. Before coming to Washington, Cleaver became Kansas City’s first Black mayor in 1991, leading the city until 1999. He also chaired the Congressional Black Caucus from 2011 to 2013 and serves on the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, where he has been an advocate for affordable housing.

At his celebration at the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center downtown, Cleaver said, “We are back. The United States is back. The nation that cares about its people is back.”

Emanuel Cleaver reelected to U.S. House seat representing Missouri's 5th Congressional Distric

Joanne Collins, who attended Cleaver’s watch party, offers a decades-long perspective on his public service. Collins became the first African American woman elected to the Kansas City Council in 1974 and served alongside Cleaver there from 1979 to 1991.

“He knows the people, he’s responsive,” Collins said. “He and his office take the notes, and they go out to the community.”

Looking Ahead to a Shifting Political Landscape

Cleaver’s reelection coincided with what he described as a huge night for Democrats nationwide. He said he looks forward to working with newcomers like Kansas Sen. Adam Hamilton, the first Democrat elected to that seat in nearly a century.

Emanuel Cleaver II Secures 12th Term in Missouri Congressional Race

“I think that this is going to be one of those rare moments where we have a chance to really make a difference and make progress,” Cleaver said. “We’re going to Washington, and we’re going to need every day we can get to reverse what he’s done to this country.”

As Cleaver begins his 12th term, the courts ensured the election was conducted using the same district boundaries as in 2022 and 2024.