Supreme Court hears emergency appeal over Missouri congressional map
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The U.S. Supreme Court was asked to intervene in a dispute over Missouri's congressional redistricting plan that could affect the number of Republican seats in the upcoming midterm elections.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday received an emergency appeal from the advocacy group People Not Politicians, seeking to block a congressional map that adds a Republican seat in Missouri for the 2024 midterm elections. The appeal follows a series of rapid court actions, including a Missouri Supreme Court ruling that the map could not be used until voters decide on it in a referendum, and a brief denial of review by Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
People Not Politicians warned that a federal order supporting the GOP-favored map would cause "confusion and disruption" and place election officials under conflicting judicial directives just before the election. The group argues that the map, enacted last year and used in the August primary, fragments the 5th Congressional District—currently represented by Democrat Emanuel Cleaver—by extending it into rural, Republican-leaning areas.
After Kavanaugh’s one-line denial, U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark issued a temporary order in a separate case requiring the state to proceed with the map, and a St. Louis appellate court declined to pause that order. The Supreme Court has asked Missouri to respond by Thursday, underscoring the tight timeline.
The dispute centers on whether the state can implement the map without a voter referendum, a question the Missouri Supreme Court rejected, finding that officials had improperly dismissed a petition bearing more than 300,000 signatures.