US Supreme Court blocks Missouri’s new congressional map for 2026 midterms
Justices rule state must use its 2022 congressional districts, while voters will decide fate of Republican-backed map in November referendum
WASHINGTON (MNTV) — The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked Missouri from using a Republican-drawn congressional map in the November midterm elections, ruling for the third time this month that the state must conduct the election under its 2022 district boundaries.
In an unsigned decision Friday with no noted dissents, the court said Missouri’s 2025 congressional map cannot take effect unless voters approve it in a statewide referendum.
“In short, as a matter of state law, the 2022 map — not the 2025 map — must be used in the 2026 congressional election,” the court said.
Missouri’s Republican-led legislature approved the new districts in 2025 after President Donald Trump urged Republican-controlled states to redraw congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterms. The plan significantly altered the Kansas City-based 5th Congressional District represented by Democrat Emanuel Cleaver.
But opponents collected enough signatures to force a referendum on the map.
The Missouri Supreme Court ruled Sept. 3 that the referendum petition was valid and that the 2025 map had therefore never taken effect. It ordered election officials to use the congressional boundaries adopted in 2022.
The dispute subsequently moved through federal courts, with a federal appeals court ruling last week that using different maps for the August primary and November general election would violate the U.S. Constitution.
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected that outcome Friday, warning that changing maps again with absentee voting already underway could cause “electoral chaos.”
The decision does not permanently invalidate the 2025 map.
Missouri voters will decide its fate through Proposition A in November. A “yes” vote will approve the new congressional boundaries, while a “no” vote will leave the 2022 districts in place, according to the Missouri secretary of state’s office.
Republicans currently hold six of Missouri’s eight U.S. House seats. The 2025 map was designed to reshape Cleaver’s district and potentially alter the partisan composition of the state’s congressional delegation.
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe said the Supreme Court decision was “disappointing” but that the state would comply with the order.
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