Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II won a 12th term Tuesday night, surviving an unusual election year in which Missouri Republicans attempted to redraw his Kansas City district — only for the courts to require the state to use its old congressional map this Election Day.
Cleaver’s win follows months of legal battles that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, after a group of Missouri petitioners fought to put the gerrymandered map up for voter approval. They ultimately succeeded, meaning Cleaver’s district was the same one he ran in for reelection in 2022 and 2024.
With 72% of precincts reporting, Cleaver had 74% of the vote, compared with Missouri state Sen. Rick Brattin’s 24%.
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Cleaver celebrated his reelection at the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center downtown. He walked out to cheers from supporters.
“We are back,” Cleaver said. “The United States is back. The nation that cares about its people is back.”
With 99% of precincts reporting, Cleaver had 69.5% of the vote, compared with Missouri state Sen. Rick Brattin’s 28.1%. Libertarian Randall Langkraehr received 2% of the vote.
Missouri voters also rejected Proposition A, which would have allowed the 2025 Congressional map to be used in future elections.
Soaking in what had up to that point been a huge night for Democrats nationwide, Cleaver said he’s looking forward to working with newcomers like Kansas Sen. Adam Hamilton, the first Democrat elected to the seat in nearly a century.
“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.”
Joanne Collins attended Cleaver’s watch party on Tuesday. She became the first African American woman elected to the Kansas City Council in 1974, where she served alongside Cleaver 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.”
A dramatic primary season
Because of ongoing legal battles at the time, the August primary election was conducted using the Republican-leaning congressional districts the state party pushed through in 2025. In that contest, Cleaver did not face a Democratic challenger, and Brattin beat out 5 other candidates.
Cleaver’s seat was the prime target of Missouri Republican attempts to redraw congressional districts and net the GOP another seat in Congress. That map split Kansas City among three separate districts, combining deep blue portions of the city with more Republican areas extending east into central Missouri. Their proposed 5th Congressional District would have stretched east from Troost Avenue nearly 200 miles.
The November general election, though, was conducted using the 2022 congressional map, following a Missouri Supreme Court ruling in September.
The same month, the court ruled a ballot initiative asking for voter approval of the redrawn map must be placed on November ballots.
Cleaver won reelection in 2022 and 2024 by more than 60% of the vote using the 2022 district map, which includes all of Kansas City south of the Missouri River.
A long tenure in Washington
Cleaver was first elected to Congress in 2004 and has been reelected 10 times. From 2011 to 2013, Cleaver was chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. He is an advocate for affordable housing and serves on the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance. Cleaver became Kansas City’s first Black mayor in 1991, and led the city until 1999.
Brattin lives in Cass County and has represented Cass, Johnson and Bates counties in the Missouri Senate since 2021. None of those counties are part of the 5th Congressional District under the 2022 map, meaning the voters Brattin currently represents in Jefferson City did not vote in his congressional race (the 2022 map puts them in the 4th District).
Brattin, a former Missouri state representative, aligned his campaign closely with President Donald Trump’s agenda, and earned Trump’s endorsement in August.
