Missouri Congressional Map Returns To Supreme Court For Third Time
Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,
The dispute over Missouri's new congressional map returned to the Supreme Court for the third time, with justices considering whether the state can use the GOP-backed map in the midterm elections.
The new map could help Republicans gain an additional U.S. House seat in the Nov. 3 elections.
The Supreme Court has twice prevented the state from using the redrawn congressional map, most recently on Sept. 10, when it granted the opponents' bid to stay a federal judge's order allowing the state to use the map in the midterm elections.
People Not Politicians, the group opposing the redrawn congressional map, filed an emergency motion with the U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 22 after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled that using the 2022 map in the Nov. 3 general elections would be unconstitutional, as the state had already used the redrawn 2025 map in the August 2026 primaries.
In a Sept. 21 ruling, the Eighth Circuit ordered U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark to enter a permanent injunction barring Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins from using any congressional map other than the one the Legislature approved in 2025.
The federal appeals court stayed its ruling until Sept. 28 to allow time for a Supreme Court review.
Opponents asked the Supreme Court to block the ruling, saying it undermined the court's previous injunction blocking the use of the 2025 congressional map.
"The Eighth Circuit's order does not merely undermine this court's stay order; it requires the district court to issue a permanent injunction granting the exact same relief this court stayed in the exact same case," the motion stated.
The motion asks the Supreme Court to clarify that its Sept. 10 stay "precludes enforcement of the replacement injunction - or any additional federal court injunctions contrary to the stay order - so long as that stay remains in effect."
Opponents also argued that the Eighth Circuit lacked jurisdiction to enter the ruling.
"The Eighth Circuit cannot disrupt an imminent election after ballots have been cast by issuing relief that this court has already foreclosed and that it lacked jurisdiction to grant, all based on a merits theory of the panel's own invention," they said.
The Supreme Court gave supporters of the new map until midday on Wednesday to respond to the latest appeal.
The 2022 map, drawn by the General Assembly after the 2020 census, was designed to give Republicans a 6-2 edge. The 2025 map, drawn as part of a mid-decade redistricting, was designed to give them a 7-1 advantage.
Missouri held primary elections on Aug. 4 using the 2025 Missouri First map approved by the Republican-controlled General Assembly. President Donald Trump supported the redrawn map.