Missouri voters block Republican-backed congressional map

Missouri voters blocked a Republican-backed congressional map from taking effect in future elections, NBC News projected, after a fight over the district lines that reached state and federal courts. NPR reported that voters turned down the map, citing an Associated Press race call.

Republican lawmakers passed the map last year in an effort to gain an additional U.S. House seat by redrawing the Kansas City district held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. The new lines would have placed Cleaver, a longtime representative, in a heavily Republican district.

Cleaver easily won reelection Tuesday under the existing map, according to an Associated Press race call reported by NPR. Missouri’s top court had ruled that the Republican-backed map could not take effect for the midterms and that voters would decide its fate. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld that ruling, NPR reported.

The Missouri proposal was part of a national push for mid-decade redistricting initiated by President Donald Trump ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Congressional districts are ordinarily redrawn every 10 years after a new census, but nine states enacted new maps ahead of this year’s vote, NBC News reported.

In Missouri, People Not Politicians Missouri said it collected more than 300,000 signatures to put a referendum on the ballot. That exceeded the roughly 106,000 signatures needed to give voters an opportunity to veto the map.

The signature drive led to a dispute over whether the new districts could be used before voters weighed in. Legislation subject to a referendum is typically put on hold pending the vote, but Missouri Republicans sought to use the map in this year’s elections, according to NBC News.

Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins waited until the statutory deadline in August to say he would not certify the referendum for the November ballot, arguing that it was unconstitutional, NBC News reported. The dispute moved through state and federal courts, which at times issued conflicting rulings. NBC News said the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Missouri Republicans’ attempts to use the redrawn map for this year’s elections three times.

Voters in other states also faced redistricting questions. Maryland voters approved a constitutional amendment changing the rules for congressional redistricting, allowing Democratic state leaders to redraw districts before the 2028 election, NPR reported. Colorado voters were deciding whether to adopt an amendment banning congressional maps designed to favor one political party.

The broader fight over district lines is expected to continue into the next election cycle, NBC News reported.