Competing court orders have left Missouri’s congressional map uncertain eight weeks before the November 3 midterm election. The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to revive a Republican-drawn map backed by President Donald Trump, but minutes later a federal judge temporarily barred the state from using the older districts that Missouri’s highest court had ordered election officials to restore.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh rejected Missouri’s emergency request without explaining his reasoning or referring it to the full court, Reuters reported. That action left standing a unanimous September 3 Missouri Supreme Court judgment that the new map could not take effect unless voters approved it in a statewide referendum. The state court said a citizen petition seeking that vote was legal, sufficient and timely.
U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark then issued a 14-day temporary restraining order in a separate federal case, requiring the state to use the new districts for now. According to the Associated Press, Clark found that switching maps after candidates had been nominated under the new boundaries could disrupt the fairness and orderly administration of the election. Opponents quickly filed notice that they would appeal to the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Republican-led legislature adopted the new lines in 2025 after Trump urged Republican states to redraw districts before the midterms. The plan reshaped the Kansas City-based 5th District held by Democratic Representative Emanuel Cleaver, assigning parts of the city to Republican-held districts and extending the remainder into more Republican rural areas. AP estimated that about 59 percent of voters in the revised district were new to it.
The dispute began after the group People Not Politicians submitted more than 300,000 signatures seeking a referendum before the map was due to take effect. Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected the petition on the day of the August primary, arguing that congressional redistricting was not subject to a referendum. The state Supreme Court reversed that decision and said the 2022 map remained the only map legally in effect; Hoskins then placed the issue on the November ballot as Proposition A.
Election officials now face conflicting commands and approaching deadlines. Missouri must begin mailing absentee ballots to military and overseas voters by September 19 under federal law, AP reported, while the August primaries already used the new districts. Republicans currently hold six of Missouri’s eight U.S. House seats, and the contested plan could improve their chances of gaining a seventh, so the appellate court’s next action may affect both voter assignments and the fight for control of the narrowly divided House.
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