Missouri will hold its November elections under a 2022 congressional map after the Supreme Court intervened Thursday.
The justices blocked a federal judge’s order that had required Missouri to use a Republican-redrawn congressional map in the upcoming November elections. In doing so, the court put the state back on course to use district boundaries it had relied on in both 2022 and 2024, despite having conducted its August 2026 primary entirely under the newer lines.
The order was brief, unsigned, and offered no explanation. That is standard practice in emergency proceedings. No justice publicly dissented. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who handles emergency matters from the federal appeals court circuit covering Missouri, referred the application to the full court before the full bench acted.
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As originally reported, the chain of events leading here was anything but straightforward. Missouri’s Republican-controlled legislature approved the new map during a 2025 special session called by Gov. Mike Kehoe. The redraw was designed in part to make the Kansas City-based 5th Congressional District more favorable to Republicans. That seat has been held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver since 2005. President Donald Trump had encouraged Missouri Republicans to pursue the mid-decade redistricting effort ahead of the 2026 elections.
The plan ran into resistance almost immediately. A group called People Not Politicians collected more than 300,000 signatures to force a statewide referendum on the new boundaries. Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected that petition on Aug. 4, ruling that the state constitution’s referendum provisions did not apply to congressional maps drawn by the legislature. The group challenged that call, and on Sept. 3 the Missouri Supreme Court ruled unanimously that legislative redistricting can in fact be subjected to the state referendum process. The court concluded the 2025 map had never legally taken effect for the general election and ordered Hoskins to place the question before voters. That referendum, Proposition A, is scheduled for the Nov. 3 ballot.
Missouri Republicans then sought emergency relief from the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that reverting to older districts after approximately 1.2 million voters had already cast primary ballots under the new map would cause serious disruption. Kavanaugh rejected that request on Sept. 8. Hours later, Chief U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark in St. Louis issued a temporary restraining order in a separate federal lawsuit brought by Republican Rep. Bob Onder and other plaintiffs, prohibiting Hoskins from using any map other than the 2025 boundaries. Clark cited federal constitutional concerns about voters being asked to choose among general-election candidates in districts where they had no say in selecting nominees.
That left Hoskins caught between two conflicting court orders, one federal and one from the state’s highest court. The state Supreme Court then weighed whether he should be held in contempt.
People Not Politicians returned to the U.S. Supreme Court and asked the justices to suspend Clark’s order. On Thursday, the court agreed.
Missouri election officials are now preparing November ballots using the 2022 map. Republican State Sen. Rick Brattin won the GOP primary in the 5th District under the 2025 boundaries. Cleaver is again the Democratic nominee. The underlying federal case remains active before the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
