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Federal Appeals Court Reinstates GOP-Favored Missouri Redistricting Map
Confirmed
In Short: A federal appeals court has reinstated a Republican-backed redistricting map for Missouri's November elections, despite previous rejections by the Supreme Court.
A federal appeals court on Monday reinstated the Republican-backed redistricting map for Missouri's November elections, despite the Supreme Court's previous rejections.
The court issued a weeklong stay for further appellate review, allowing the election to proceed under the new map.
In a sharp legal battle, Missouri's high court found U.S. District Judge John Hogan Hoskins in contempt for failing to comply with its earlier ruling to use the 2022 map.
Hoskins had previously ruled in favor of the 2025 map, but the Supreme Court stayed that ruling, leading to a series of legal challenges.
The appeals court acknowledged the unusual nature of changing district lines between primary and general elections, but determined that the lower court should stay its permanent injunction until September.
The Missouri Supreme Court ordered Hoskins to use the 2022 map for the November election, but the appeals court's decision effectively contradicts this order.
The appeals court's decision is the latest in a series of legal maneuvers that have seen the new map fly up and down between federal and state courts.
The Missouri Supreme Court's decision to find Hoskins in contempt underscores the contentious nature of the redistricting process and the legal challenges it has faced.
What this adds
The appeals court's decision is the latest in a series of legal maneuvers that have seen the new map fly up and down between federal and state courts.
Background
A federal appeals court on Monday ruled that Missouri must use its Republican-favored 2025 redistricting map in November, despite the Supreme Court declining twice this month to intervene in the dispute.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway is appealing to the US Supreme Court to reverse a state court decision that blocked the use of a new congressional map.
What's confirmed
- The hearing via videoconference before the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals featured sharp exchanges over the meaning of a recent U.S. Supreme Court order, which parties were legally allowed to argue the case and whether it is too late to change Missouri’s congressional districts before the Nov. 3 election.
- “Whether it’s impossible or not, we have to do our best to follow the Supreme Court’s instructions and get it to a place where there is an order that they consider final order from their perspective, so they can decide these issues that are worthy of their review,” he said.
- The Missouri Supreme Court ordered Hoskins to use the map created in 2022 for the Nov. 3 election when it found the referendum was legal and the Missouri Constitution means what it says when it prevents a legislative act subject to a vote from being enforced until after it is approved.
- Loken said the Supreme Court meant the 8th Circuit could issue a final ruling.
- Hatfield argued that the Supreme Court’s stay prevents the 2025 map from taking effect while that process plays out.
- Hatfield urged the court to send the case back to Clark and allow a full trial.
What's still developing
- “The Supreme Court of the United States has already stayed a temporary restraining order and allowed the election to go forward,” Hatfield said in an email to Courthouse News.
- “Though uncommon, this situation is not unprecedented,” the appeals court’s decision stated.
- “Courts around the country have ordered ballot changes after absentee ballots already have been distributed." Responding to President Donald Trump’s call to redraw congressional districts outside the normal 10-year window, Missouri legislators passed a new map that would favor Republicans for seven of the state’s eight U.S.
- Opponents of the map issued an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court late Tuesday night after the St. Louis-based Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the new map on Monday.
- Hoskins then appealed the case to the Supreme Court, but Kavanaugh declined to hear his request on Sept. 4.
- The court issued an unsigned order blocking Clark's order until the Eighth Circuit issued a formal ruling in the case.
- The Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities already announced it will not be using the 2025 map for November, arguing in an appeal filing that the state does not have enough time to provide new ballots.
- Fox News correspondent Mark Meredith has the latest on the key storylines shaping the race to the 2026 midterm elections, including the political fallout from the Supreme Court's Missouri redistricting decision, the battle for control of Congress, and the issues driving voters as both parties intensify their push toward November on 'Special Report.' The U.S.
- Supreme Court will hear arguments in a Missouri redistricting case for a third time after Justice Brett Kavanaugh accepted a request to intervene in the case once again Tuesday night.
- The divisive redistricting map drawn in 2025 would grant Republicans an additional seat in the House of Representatives if it is put in place ahead of the 2026 elections.
- (Missouri Office of Administration/Amanda Macias/Fox News Digital) Kavanaugh handles emergency requests for the state of Missouri and directed supporters of the new map to respond to the appeal by Wednesday at 2 p.m.
- The Democratic group behind the petition, People Not Politicians, asked a state court to intervene, saying the group's petition of 300,000 signatures should have triggered a referendum on the new map under Missouri's constitution.