Missouri Appeals to Supreme Court Over Contested Congressional Map
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Missouri has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to suspend a state court ruling that blocks new congressional districts favored by President Trump, seeking to use them in the upcoming midterm election.
Missouri filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday requesting that a state-court order halting the use of newly drawn congressional districts be stayed. The districts, drawn to benefit Republicans in the 2022 midterms, were blocked by the Missouri Supreme Court after a petition for a statewide referendum was rejected by Secretary of State Denny Hoskins and later upheld by the high court.
The state’s highest court ruled that the referendum petition effectively suspended the new map retroactively to December, meaning the districts used in the August primary must be replaced by the older post-2020-census boundaries for the November general election. Attorney General Catherine Hanaway argued that no court has ever ordered a change to congressional maps between a primary and a general election, calling the decision “extraordinary” and warning of “unprecedented chaos.”
"No court in American history has ever given such an extraordinary remedy, which inflicts unprecedented chaos on Missouri," the attorney general’s office wrote in the appeal.
Hanaway asked the Supreme Court to halt the state court’s decision immediately, noting that state law requires changes to the November ballot by the following Tuesday. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who oversees appeals from the region, set a Monday deadline for critics of the map to respond.
Supporters of the referendum argue that a statewide vote would give Missourians a direct say in the redistricting process. The state currently sends six Republicans and two Democrats to the U.S. House, and the new map would alter a Kansas City district currently held by Democrat Emanuel Cleaver. The dispute reflects a broader national effort, spurred by President Trump, to redraw congressional lines mid-decade in several states.