The Missouri Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Thursday, September 3, 2026, that a newly drawn congressional map favored by Republicans cannot be used in the November general election. The court held that the map, which sought to reconfigure the state's House districts, will remain suspended until voters decide whether to approve or reject it in a November referendum.
The ruling follows legal and political disputes over the mid-decade redistricting effort initiated by the Republican-led legislature. In 2025, Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe called a special session to redraw the lines after President Donald Trump urged the party to seek an advantage in the U.S. House. The resulting map aimed to dismantle the Kansas City-based 5th District held by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) to create an additional pickup opportunity for Republicans.
In December 2025, the group People Not Politicians submitted more than 300,000 signatures to force a referendum on the new map. Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected the petition in August 2026, arguing that the referendum process did not apply to congressional redistricting. However, the high court overturned that decision, stating that the Missouri Constitution allows a referendum on "any act" of the legislature.
Because the new map is now blocked pending the election, the court ordered that the congressional map adopted after the 2020 census remain in effect for the upcoming general election. That map contains six Republican-leaning districts and two Democratic-leaning districts. Rep. Cleaver, who had faced a challenge from Republican State Sen. Rick Brattin under the new lines, will now run in his original district.
The ruling affects the candidates running for the state's eight seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Specifically, it impacts voters in the 5th Congressional District, where the blocked map would have introduced new voters to 59% of the district by stretching it more than 100 miles eastward into rural areas. Under the court's order, these voters will return to their 2020-defined districts for the November 2026 election.
The decision has immediate implications for the national balance of power in Congress, where Republicans hold a slim majority. By preventing the implementation of a "7-1" map intended to favor Republicans in seven of eight seats, the court has maintained a "6-2" configuration for the election. This eliminates one of the roughly 10 seats Republicans hoped to gain through mid-decade redistricting efforts across more than a dozen states. State Sen. Rick Brattin, who won his primary in August under the new lines, must now adjust his campaign to the previous district boundaries.
The case confirmed that citizens can use the referendum process for congressional redistricting laws passed by the General Assembly. While the new districts were used during the August 2026 primaries, the court ruled they cannot be used in November unless a majority of voters approve them. The referendum vote is scheduled for the general election on November 3, 2026.