The Missouri Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously blocked the state's newly enacted Republican-backed congressional districts from taking effect in November's midterm elections, ruling that the map must first be approved by voters in a statewide referendum. The decision is a rare setback for Republicans in the national redistricting fight, as the party had counted on the new map to help secure an additional House seat and protect its narrow majority in Congress.
The court determined that a referendum petition filed in December, backed by more than 300,000 signatures, legally suspended the new districts until voters weigh in. Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins had rejected the petition on primary election day last month, arguing that the referendum process does not apply to congressional redistricting. A lower court sided with Hoskins, but the state's highest court overturned that ruling.
«The referendum petition was legal, sufficient, and timely, and the secretary incorrectly concluded otherwise,» the court wrote. The measure containing the new districts «did not go into effect and will not go into effect unless and until approved by the voters.» As a result, the congressional map adopted after the 2020 census «remains in full force and effect for the November 2026 general election,» the court said.
The new map, passed by the GOP-controlled legislature and signed by Republican Governor Mike Kehoe last September, was designed to shift longtime Democratic Representative Emanuel Cleaver's Kansas City-area district eastward to include rural, right-leaning voters. Republicans hoped the change would produce a 7-1 advantage in the state's congressional delegation. The map was used in last month's primaries, but the court ruled it cannot be used again unless voters uphold it in a referendum.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, a Republican, said she plans to appeal immediately to the U.S. Supreme Court. «Never before in American history has a court overturned a congressional map after a primary and before a general election,» Hanaway said in a statement. «This unprecedented decision clearly violates federal law and has thrust our state into a full-fledged constitutional crisis.» She added that federal courts should not allow Missouri voters to be «disenfranchised,» which she said is what Thursday's decision does.
President Donald Trump criticized the ruling on Truth Social, calling it «ridiculous» and unconstitutional. He argued there will not be enough time to change the map before the election. «The Missouri Supreme Court just ridiculously ruled in favor of changing the maps back to what they were a long time ago,» Trump wrote. «It's called, Ancient History! The problem is, according to Legal Scholars, that not only was the ruling horrible, ridiculous, and unConstitutional, but there won't be enough time to change the map back with the Election coming up in a very short period of time.»
Kehoe said he is «extremely disappointed» in the decision by «unelected judges and their lack of respect for the legislative process.» He noted that holding a primary under one map and a general election under another is «unprecedented and creates uncertainty for Missouri voters.» The governor said the state will continue to stand behind the map «as the legal process moves forward.»
Five of the seven current justices on the Missouri Supreme Court, including the chief justice, were appointed by Republican governors. Cleaver, whose district was the target of the map, celebrated the ruling. «More than 305,000 Missourians demanded a say in who will represent them in the halls of Congress,» he wrote on X. «Despite the cynical and deeply shameful attempt to silence many of our neighbors, the people fought back and won. This reaffirms that the people should choose their politicians, not the other way around.»
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin called the ruling a «big win for democracy and the people of Missouri,» adding that Democrats will continue fighting to end «the Republican gerrymandering sham.» Missouri, once considered a swing state, has shifted decisively to the right over the past two decades, but Thursday's decision leaves the state's congressional map in limbo just weeks before voters head to the polls.