Missouri redistricting fight returns to Supreme Court

Missouri’s congressional map fight is back before the U.S. Supreme Court after opponents of a Republican-drawn plan asked the justices to block its use in November’s midterm elections amid conflicting state and federal court orders.

The emergency filing Wednesday by People Not Politicians, a group led by activist Richard von Glahn, came after a federal judge ruled that Missouri must use the new districts, which were backed by President Donald Trump and designed to strengthen Republicans’ position in the state’s congressional delegation. The ruling directly conflicts with a Missouri Supreme Court decision last week that said the map could not be used while a voter referendum that could veto it moves forward.

The dispute has created uncertainty less than two months before the midterms and after Tuesday’s deadline to finalize Missouri ballots. The first ballots in the state are scheduled to go out Sept. 19.

In their Supreme Court filing, lawyers for the challengers said the federal ruling is in “direct conflict” with the Missouri Supreme Court. They wrote that Secretary of State Denny Hoskins has made clear that “election officials will continue to implement a congressional map that Missouri’s highest court has held is not and never has been law.”

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to block the Missouri Supreme Court’s ruling in a separate state-law case. Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh denied an emergency request from Missouri officials to use the new map, effectively leaving in place the state court decision reverting Missouri to its 2022 congressional districts.

But later Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark in St. Louis issued a temporary restraining order requiring Missouri to use the new map, saying it was necessary to avoid violations of the U.S. Constitution. The state used that map in its August primary elections. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to pause Clark’s order, prompting the challengers to return to the Supreme Court.

The Missouri Supreme Court has also opened a contempt inquiry into Hoskins, a Republican, and ordered him to appear in person at a Thursday morning hearing. The court directed him to explain “why he should not be held in contempt” for violating its ruling that the state cannot use the new map. Hoskins has continued pressing to use it.

“I look forward to my day in court,” Hoskins wrote on X.

Missouri Republicans enacted the map in 2025 as part of a broader redistricting push led by Trump. The revised districts target the 5th Congressional District, held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City. The Guardian reported that the plan reassigns parts of Kansas City to two neighboring Republican-held districts and extends the remainder of Cleaver’s district eastward into rural Republican areas.

If the Missouri Supreme Court’s ruling remains in effect, the state would use the map drawn in 2022, under which Republicans hold six congressional seats and Democrats hold two.

The legal fight began after People Not Politicians gathered signatures for a state referendum that would undo the GOP-drawn map and put it on hold for the 2026 election. Hoskins refused to place the measure on the ballot, arguing that redistricting plans are not subject to voter approval. The Missouri Supreme Court, whose members include a majority of Republican appointees, disagreed, finding that state law does not exempt congressional maps passed by the Legislature from being vetoed by voters through the referendum process.