The Missouri Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously reversed a lower court ruling and ordered that this year’s congressional map be decided by voters in November, throwing the state’s redistricting fight into fresh uncertainty just months before the general election.
The ruling reverts Missouri to the congressional map that was in place in 2022, even though the state’s August primaries were already conducted under a new map drawn in 2025. The court also directed Secretary of State Denny Hoskins to use the 2022 district lines for this year’s general election.
Writing for the court, Judge Ginger Gooch said the Missouri Constitution’s referendum provision applies to redistricting just as it does to nearly all other legislation. “Because the plain language of… the Missouri Constitution authorizes a referendum as to ‘any act of the general assembly’ and no exception applies, the referendum petition was legal, sufficient, and timely,” she wrote. “This court reverses the circuit court’s judgment.”
It’s the first time since 1922 that a congressional map has been placed directly before Missouri voters.
What was at stake in the new map
The 2025 map, drawn by the legislature during a special session, was expected to shift Missouri’s congressional delegation from a 6-2 Republican advantage to 7-1. Under that map, Democratic incumbent Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of the 5th District would have faced Republican state Senator Rick Brattin in a district reshaped to heavily favor Republicans.
The Supreme Court’s decision is notable in part because it had previously sided with Republicans on nearly every challenge to the redistricting process. The court already rejected arguments that the special session itself was illegal, that mid-decade redistricting is unlawful, and that the new districts weren’t sufficiently compact. Thursday’s ruling didn’t disturb any of those findings — it simply held that the map, once passed, was subject to a voter referendum like other legislative acts.
The decision is one of the few rulings nationally to go against Republican-drawn redistricting plans this cycle.
An appeal to the Supreme Court
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway announced plans to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing the state court has created a constitutional crisis by changing the rules after a primary already took place.
“Never before in American history has a court overturned a congressional map after a primary and before a general election. This unprecedented decision clearly violates federal law and has thrust our state into a full-fledged constitutional crisis. Our office will move immediately to seek relief from SCOTUS. We are confident that the federal courts will not allow every Missouri voter to be disenfranchised—which is what today’s decision does.”
With Hanaway pledging an appeal, the fight over which map governs Missouri’s House delegation this fall is likely headed to the nation’s highest court, leaving candidates, voters and election officials to navigate the uncertainty in the meantime.
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