Missouri Supreme Court rules new GOP-drawn map can’t be used in November

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state’s redrawn congressional map cannot be used in this year’s midterm elections, dealing a major blow to Republicans.

The court ruled that a referendum that will determine whether the state can use the map going forward must appear on the November ballot, meaning Missouri’s fall elections will take place under its previous district lines.

The new map was designed to draw one of the two Missouri Democrats in Congress, longtime Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, out of his seat.

The ruling comes after a protracted battle between advocacy group People Not Politicians Missouri, who sought to block the Republican redistricting effort, and the state GOP leaders who defended it.

Missouri redrew its congressional map in 2025 at the behest of President Donald Trump. In response, People Not Politicians Missouri gathered more than 300,000 signatures to force a veto referendum. And while the group exceeded the signature requirements for getting on the ballot, Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins refused to certify it, saying that it was unconstitutional. The group appealed to the state Supreme Court, who heard arguments on the matter on Wednesday.

The ruling comes just days before the state’s Sept. 8 deadline to finalize its ballot for the general election. The state ran its August primary election on the Republican-drawn map.

Judge Ginger K. Gooch wrote in her ruling that Hoskins and those acting with him “are restrained and enjoined from implementing, using, or mandating the use of the congressional redistricting in HB 1 for the November 2026 general election or at any other time thereafter unless and until HB 1 is approved by the voters at the November 2026 general election and takes effect 30 days thereafter.”

Gooch’s decision overturns one from a lower court which had allowed the new map to be implemented in November, agreeing with Hoskins to reject the petition.