The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from Missouri officials, preventing the state from implementing a new congressional map designed to give Republicans an additional seat in the House of Representatives. This decision means Missouri must revert to its 2022 congressional map for the upcoming November general election. The new map, known as HB 1, was passed by the Republican-led legislature and signed by Governor Mike Kehoe in September 2025, with the aim of securing seven out of the state's eight House seats for the GOP.
The dispute arose after President Donald Trump encouraged Republican-controlled states to redraw congressional maps outside the usual decennial census redistricting cycle. In response to HB 1, organizers collected over 300,000 signatures to put the new map to a statewide referendum on the 2026 ballot. Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected this petition in August 2026, arguing that the state's constitution did not permit referendums on congressional redistricting plans.
However, the Missouri Supreme Court unanimously overturned Hoskins' decision on September 3, 2026, ruling that the state constitution's plain language allows for a referendum on "any act of the general assembly" and that no exception applied to the redistricting plan. The state court emphasized that HB 1 would not become law unless approved by voters, and thus, the 2022 map remained the only valid one. Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, a Republican, stated her intention to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, calling the Missouri court's decision a "constitutional crisis.
Despite the state's arguments of an impending "federal-election-administration disaster" and the unprecedented nature of the remedy, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene. This effectively upheld the Missouri Supreme Court's ruling, which mandated that the 2022 map be used for the November elections and that voters would decide the fate of the new HB 1 map through a referendum. This outcome is considered a setback for Republicans in the national redistricting battle, as they had hoped the new boundaries would help them secure an additional seat and maintain their slim House majority.
