Supreme Court Blocks Missouri GOP-backed Redistricting Map Before Elections

The Supreme Court has halted the use of a Republican-endorsed congressional map in Missouri as litigation in a pivotal redistricting battle continues prior to the November midterm elections. This decision provides a significant setback to Missouri Republicans. Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh, appointed by President Donald Trump, referred the case to the full court. The justices stayed a federal judge’s order that reinstated Republican-friendly districts, with no dissents recorded.

This dispute revolves around congressional maps enacted by Missouri Republicans that would reconfigure the state’s eight U.S. House districts. The court’s ruling aligns with a recent decision where Justice Brett Kavanaugh rejected an attempt to overturn a Missouri Supreme Court ruling, which had prevented the Republican-backed map from taking effect before the midterms.

“Good for the Court!” stated Vikram Amar, a distinguished professor of law at UC Davis School of Law, in response to the ruling.

Newsweek reached out to the Missouri Secretary of State for comments following the decision. The second appeal to the Supreme Court stems from challengers to the new map, including People Not Politicians, a group advocating for a referendum on the plan.

Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians, shared with Newsweek, “The law is the law, the Missouri constitution is clear as was the Missouri Supreme Court. Over 305,000 Missouri voters – Republicans, Democrats, and Independents took action to block this political power grab last fall. People, not politicians, will have the final say when they vote NO on Proposition A this November.”

On Thursday morning, the Supreme Court decided to grant a stay shortly after rejecting the state’s original appeal. People Not Politicians, who successfully challenged Missouri’s 2025 congressional map in state court, argued that the federal district court improperly overrode the Missouri Supreme Court’s ruling. The state court’s decision had suspended the GOP-backed map via a referendum petition.

The group told the Supreme Court that Missouri election officials should revert to the 2022 map. They claimed that neither the Equal Protection Clause nor Article I, Section 2 assured voters of remaining in the same district for both primary and general elections. Moreover, they stated that the federal court’s directive disrupted elections by enforcing a map Missouri’s highest court had deemed “is not the law and never has been the law.”

Conversely, Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins and the state argued that reverting to the 2022 map post-August primary violates the constitutional rights of countless voters. They asserted that altering the map would force some Missourians to elect candidates they couldn’t nominate in the primary. Additionally, state officials were already printing ballots under the new map adopted for the August 2025 primaries.

The United States, backing Missouri, made similar arguments, warning that changing maps between elections would form “two classes of voters.” This scenario could exclude some voters from a full role in selecting their Congressional representatives. The Justice Department contended that People Not Politicians likely lacked standing for the appeal.

The central debate remains whether Missouri should employ its 2022 congressional map or last year’s Republican-redrawn districts. The newer map, used during the August primaries, could afford the GOP seven of Missouri’s eight House seats instead of six.

In September 2025, the Missouri legislature approved House Bill 1, which replaced the state’s 2022 congressional map. The bill passed smoothly in both chambers, subsequently signed into law by Republican Governor Michael Kehoe. Missouri then utilized the new map during its 2025 primary elections, in which roughly 1.2 million voters participated.