The US supreme court has again blocked Missouri from using Republican-drawn congressional maps in November’s midterm elections, appearing to return the state to its previous districts. The ruling followed conflicting orders from four courts and came less than two months before elections that could help determine control of the narrowly divided US House of Representatives.
The state’s next steps remained unclear because Missouri used the newer maps for its August primary elections before the latest order.
How the map dispute reached the supreme court
Missouri’s Republican-dominated legislature redrew the congressional boundaries last year at Donald Trump’s behest. Governor Mike Kehoe signed the new map into law in September 2025, prompting immediate legal challenges.
People Not Politicians then gathered more than 300,000 signatures to force a statewide vote on whether to keep or repeal the map. On 3 September, the Missouri supreme court certified the referendum and ruled that the new lines did not comply with state law and would not take effect until 2027. Read the context: Trump asks Supreme Court to reinstate mail-in voting restrictions ahead of November elections.
Why November’s elections are still unsettled
Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins had sought to use the new map, while Attorney General Catherine Hanaway appealed the state supreme court’s decision. Justice Brett Kavanaugh declined on Tuesday to pause that ruling in an emergency request involving the eighth circuit.
A federal district judge, Stephen Clark, separately ordered Hoskins to use the new map minutes later. Hoskins said he would follow that order, but a federal appeals court panel declined to block it. On Thursday morning, Kavanaugh ordered Missouri to comply with the state supreme court ruling, blocking the newer map.
What happens next
Missouri must determine how to proceed with November’s congressional elections after conducting its August primary under the newer map and receiving the latest order to use the old districts.
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