JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday rejected an attempt to implement a new Missouri congressional map supported by President Donald Trump, concluding a protracted legal dispute as absentee voting is underway for the midterm elections.
The justices halted a federal appeals court ruling that would have reinstated the Republican-friendly map for the November elections, which will determine control of Congress. There were no noted dissents.
The Supreme Court allowed a decision by the Missouri Supreme Court to stand, which ruled earlier this month that a citizen petition prevents the new map from being used unless first approved by voters in a November referendum. Consequently, Missouri residents will vote using the same congressional districts that were in place during the 2024 and 2022 elections.
In an unsigned opinion, the Supreme Court stated, "At this late date, ordering reversion to the 2025 map in the midst of an ongoing election would usher in electoral chaos." The court added that the District Court and Court of Appeals should not prohibit the use of the 2022 map in the 2026 congressional election in Missouri.
Republicans had anticipated that the new House map, which was utilized in the August primaries, could help them secure an additional seat as part of a nationwide redistricting effort promoted by Trump to gain an advantage in the midterms.
A panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that changing districts between the primary and general elections would violate the U.S. Constitution. The panel instructed a district judge to prevent Missouri from using anything other than the new map but postponed the order's effect until next Monday to allow for an appeal to the Supreme Court.
The legal disputes have caused confusion for over a million potential Missouri voters, nearly 1 in 4 statewide, who were moved from one district to another, resulting in different candidates on their ballots. Absentee voting commenced on Tuesday under the 2022 congressional districts, although some local election officials advised voters to wait due to the legal uncertainty.
Currently, Republicans hold six of Missouri's eight House districts. At the request of Trump and Republican Governor Mike Kehoe, Missouri lawmakers revised the districts last September to help them win seven seats in the midterms.
The redistricting significantly altered a Kansas City-based district held by Democratic Representative Emanuel Cleaver. It removed parts of Kansas City to neighboring districts with Republican incumbents and extended the remainder of Cleaver's 5th Congressional District into rural Republican areas.
As a result, approximately 59% of potential voters were new to the district, according to an Associated Press estimate. The changes also affected some voters in most of Missouri's other congressional districts.
Cleaver was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Republican state Senator Rick Brattin won a six-way Republican primary under the revised districts. They remain the candidates for the general election, despite the district boundaries reverting to their previous lines.
Brattin was a plaintiff, along with Republican Representative Bob Onder and two other voters, in a federal lawsuit that led to the 8th Circuit's ruling and the last two appeals to the Supreme Court.
At least 16 lawsuits have been filed in state and federal courts regarding Missouri's congressional redistricting. This legal battle has been the longest and most complex among about a dozen states that sought to modify their U.S. House districts over the past year.
Missouri's new map survived most of the lawsuits, including challenges claiming that mid-decade redistricting violated the state constitution and that the new districts did not meet compactness requirements. In one instance, the Missouri Supreme Court allowed the new districts to be used while election officials verified petition signatures seeking to put the map to a statewide vote.
Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins waited until the legal deadline on August 4 — the day the new districts were used in the primaries — to reject the petition, asserting that referendum petitions are not permitted for congressional redistricting.
The Missouri Supreme Court ruled on September 3 that the referendum petition was valid, ordering Hoskins not to use the new map and instead to utilize the districts adopted in 2022, following the last census. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld that ruling on September 8. However, shortly after, U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark issued a conflicting order favoring the new map.
On September 10, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked Clark's order from taking effect. That same day, the Missouri Supreme Court held Hoskins temporarily in contempt for instructing local election authorities to use the new map after Clark's order.
The 8th Circuit, hearing an appeal of Clark's blocked order, ruled in favor of the Trump-backed map on Monday, leading to the latest decision from the U.S. Supreme Court.