The U.S. Supreme Court — for the third time – blocked Missouri from using a new congressional map redrawn by legislative Republicans in 2025. That ends a series of battles for this midterm election.
The Justices said “At this late date, ordering reversion to the 2025 map in the midst of an ongoing election would usher in electoral chaos.”
Elections officials have already sent out ballots that leave districts intact from 2022, including Kansas City based 5th Congressional District. The re-drawn map divided the city into parts of three districts, diluting the voter base of current Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver. President Donald Trump asked Republican-led states to find seats to maintain their party majority in the U.S. House in the November 3rd elections. But the new map was immediately challenged by People Not Politicians Missouri in a voter petition, which was denied in the final hour by Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins.
That denial became the deciding factor for the Missouri Supreme Court: the map cannot exist until voters approve it.
The nation’s highest court agreed, saying in Friday’s ruling:
“[I]n this case, the Missouri Supreme Court was not responsible for the late-breaking changes. On the contrary, in an opinion back in May 2026, well before the primary election, the Missouri Supreme Court stated that the 2025 map would not take effect until approved by voters in an intervening referendum, at least if the referendum petition was legally sufficient. … So in the several-month period before the August primary election, the Missouri Secretary of State was well aware that conducting the August primary election with the 2025 map carried significant risks. The Secretary nonetheless chose to proceed with the 2025 map for the primary.”
Read the SCOTUS DECISION Sept 25 2026
For a deeper dive, read US Supreme Court again blocks Missouri’s gerrymandered congressional map from the Missouri Independent.