The Missouri House is expected to approve a new congressional map Tuesday that would eliminate a Democratic-controlled US House seat, as Republicans around the country scramble to boost their chances of retaining control of Congress after next year’s midterm elections.

Republicans want to redraw congressional districts and increase their party’s chances of flipping a seat long held by a Democrat in the Kansas City area.

The vote came more than four hours after the House also advanced a first-in-the-nation plan that would overhaul Missouri's initiative petition process, the state's most visible form of direct democracy that allows citizens to put measures on the ballot.

The Missouri House advanced a redistricting plan in an 89-63 vote that would split Kansas City’s 5th District. Several Republicans, including Speaker Jon Patterson, opposed the measure.