Missouri Supreme Court blocks Trump-backed congressional map
Missouri's supreme court has unanimously struck down new Trump-backed congressional districts, ruling the old map must be used in November and sending the new one to a statewide referendum. The decision is a rare setback for Republicans' national redistricting push.
The Missouri supreme court ruled unanimously on Thursday that new congressional district boundaries backed by President Donald Trump cannot be used in November's general election, ordering a statewide referendum on whether voters ultimately approve them. The decision represents a rare defeat for Republicans in a broader nationwide battle over redrawing electoral maps.
Republicans had hoped the new Missouri map would help them pick up an additional House seat and protect their narrow majority in the midterms. Although the map was already used in August's primary elections, the court ruled it cannot apply to the general election or any future one unless voters first approve it in a referendum.
The court found that a citizen-led referendum petition was legal, sufficient and filed on time, and that the secretary of state had wrongly rejected it. As a result, the congressional map drawn after the 2020 census will remain in effect for the November 2026 election.
The fight began last year after Trump pushed Republicans to redraw districts in their favor. Missouri governor Mike Kehoe called a special legislative session that reshaped the fifth congressional district, currently held by Democrat Emanuel Cleaver. Opponents of the new map gathered more than 300,000 signatures in December to force a referendum, but Republican secretary of state Denny Hoskins rejected the petition only on the day of the August primary, arguing the referendum process did not apply to congressional redistricting. A lower court sided with him before the state's top court overturned that ruling.
Missouri currently sends six Republicans and two Democrats to the US House. Cleaver, unopposed in the August primary, has won at least 60% of the vote in his district over the past two elections. Republican state senator Rick Brattin won the primary in the redrawn fifth district, which was extended eastward into rural Republican-leaning areas; about 59% of voters there were new under the revised boundaries. The ruling could still be appealed to the US Supreme Court.
