Supreme Court denies Missouri GOP request to implement new congressional map

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a last-minute request by Missouri Republicans to use a newly drawn congressional map for the upcoming midterm elections. In a brief order signed by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the Court affirmed a Missouri Supreme Court decision that the map could not be implemented while a voter-initiated referendum challenging it proceeds.

The contested 2025 redistricting plan would have removed one of the two Democratic-held seats in the state, currently represented by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, and increased the Republican majority. With the Supreme Court’s denial, the existing 2022 map—six Republican seats and two Democratic seats—remains in effect.

The dispute began after the legislature approved the 2025 plan. Advocacy group People Not Politicians Missouri, led by Richard von Glahn, gathered signatures for a referendum that would block the map and delay its use until after the 2026 election. Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, a Republican, refused to place the measure on the ballot, arguing that redistricting proposals cannot be overturned by voters.

The Missouri Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Hoskins was wrong and that the referendum petition was “legal, sufficient and timely.” State law requires any valid voter initiative that would override a legislative act to put the law on hold until the public votes.

"Hundreds of thousands of Missourians will see their votes in the primary election rendered pointless," Hoskins’s attorneys warned in filings to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Hoskins also contended that the state court’s decision violated the U.S. Constitution’s elections clause, which he said gives state legislatures primary authority over elections. The high court previously rejected a similar argument in a 2023 North Carolina redistricting case.

Lawyers for the referendum supporters argued that Hoskins was seeking “a political victory to which he was never entitled under the Missouri Constitution.” The Supreme Court’s order leaves the referendum process intact and maintains the current district boundaries for the 2026 election cycle.