Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Missouri’s Attempt to Undermine Fair Representation with 2022 Congressional Map
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Chief U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark has halted Missouri’s regressive move to reinstate its 2022 congressional districts for the November election, ensuring the more equitable 2025 map remains in place for at least two weeks as legal battles continue.
Chief U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark issued a temporary restraining order to stop Missouri’s Republican-led government from reverting to its outdated and gerrymandered 2022 congressional map for the November general election. This order, effective for 14 days, preserves the 2025 district map, which was used in the primary and offers a fairer representation of Missouri’s diverse population.
The ruling comes after a lawsuit by Rep. Bob Onder, state Sen. Rick Brattin, and two voters, following the Missouri Supreme Court’s troubling signal to return to the 2022 map—a map that many advocates say was designed to entrench conservative power and dilute the voices of marginalized communities. Judge Clark recognized the high likelihood that the plaintiffs would succeed in showing that switching maps now would invalidate primary ballots and create widespread voter confusion, further eroding trust in the democratic process.
"Using a different map for the general election would wreak havoc on the fairness and orderliness of Missouri’s congressional elections, calling into question the candidacy of those nominated in the primaries and the votes of those who voted in the primaries. Widespread voter confusion would inevitably follow. The public interest factor thus weighs in favor of a TRO," the judge wrote.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, representing the state’s conservative establishment, said the state will comply with the order, but continued to frame the issue in terms of procedural fairness, ignoring the deeper injustices of gerrymandering that have plagued Missouri’s elections for years.
The grassroots advocacy group People Not Politicians filed an appeal with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and asked Judge Clark to pause his order, highlighting the chaos caused by conflicting court directives and the urgent need for a truly representative map.
State Sen. Rick Brattin, who is challenging Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, expressed disappointment that the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene, but welcomed the district court’s stay, focusing on the supposed risk of disenfranchisement while ignoring the broader issue of fair representation for all Missourians.