Supreme Court asked to halt Missouri’s gerrymandered map

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times - Wednesday, September 23, 2026

Missouri’s new Republican-friendly congressional map is back before the Supreme Court, where opponents are begging the justices to once again set the new districts aside and force November’s election to take place under the old, more Democrat-tilted map.

The high court has twice sided with the old map, but lower courts have once again restored the new map, forcing the matter back to the justices.

At issue are two conflicting circumstances: The state already held primaries under the new map, but it has also already sent out some ballots for November’s general election using the old map.

Something will have to give.

Supporters of the old map said the fact that people have already begun to vote under the old map should carry the day.

“Missouri voters … have already cast their ballots under Missouri law,” those supporters said in their petition to the court. “At best, their already-cast votes would get thrown out and they would be forced to cast another ballot in the November general election under new district lines. At worst, those voters will be precluded from voting at all in the general election.”

At stake is likely the outcome of one seat.

Under the old map, written for the 2022 election and used again in 2024, Democrats won two of the state’s eight seats in the U.S. House. Republicans hoped to reduce Democrats to just one seat with the new map, which eliminates the Kansas City-based district of Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II.

The Legislature approved the new map, but opponents demanded it be put to a referendum. Under Missouri rules, a measure facing a referendum can’t take effect yet.

But Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, a Republican, argued that redistricting didn’t fall under the usual rules and so it wasn’t subject to a challenge by referendum.

The primaries were then held under the new map.

The state’s Supreme Court, though, ruled that redistricting was subject to the referendum process. It ordered the old map restored.

Lower federal courts ruled that since the primary had already taken place, the new map should still be used. Twice before, those arguments were rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court, but the case is back for a third time.