US Supreme Court Reinstates Missouri's 2022 Congressional Map for Midterm Elections
The high-stakes legal and constitutional battle over Missouri's congressional districts reached a dramatic climax at the nation's highest court. On Thursday, September 10, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a one-page emergency stay that blocked a federal judge's order requiring Missouri to use its newly drawn, Republican-leaning 2025 congressional map. The Supreme Court's ruling effectively reinstates a unanimous September 3, 2026 decision by the Missouri Supreme Court, putting the state back on course to conduct the upcoming November midterm elections using its 2022 congressional districts.1
The dispute began after the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the 2025 map—which dismantled the Kansas City-based 5th Congressional District represented by longtime Democratic U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver—was suspended by a valid voter referendum petition gathered by the political action committee People Not Politicians. The state court ordered the referendum to be placed on the November ballot as Proposition A and directed the state to use the 2022 map.
However, Chief U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark in St. Louis subsequently issued a conflicting 14-day temporary restraining order, forcing the state to use the 2025 map. Judge Clark argued that changing district lines so close to the election and after candidates were nominated in the August primary could violate voters' federal constitutional rights. After the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to stay Clark's order, People Not Politicians filed an emergency application with Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who referred the matter to the full court.
The Supreme Court's stay of Judge Clark's order resolves the immediate conflict. Following the ruling, Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins announced that his office is directing local election authorities to use the 2022 congressional map for the November elections, and voters will decide the fate of the 2025 map via Proposition A.
"The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a federal judge’s order requiring Missouri to use a gerrymandered congressional map in November, putting the state back on course to conduct the election using districts drawn in 2022... In a one-page order, the court granted an emergency request from a political action committee called People Not Politicians and its executive director, Richard von Glahn, to stay a temporary restraining order issued Tuesday by Chief U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark in St. Louis." — Jason Hancock, Missouri Independent, September 10, 2026
"Its immediate effect is to revive a unanimous Missouri Supreme Court ruling from Sept. 3 that found the gerrymandered 2025 congressional map never took effect because it was suspended by a valid referendum petition... The state court ordered Secretary of State Denny Hoskins to place the referendum on the Nov. 3 ballot as Proposition A and conduct this year’s congressional election using the map adopted in 2022." — Jason Hancock, Missouri Independent, September 10, 2026
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An instance of No partisan mid-decade redistricting can survive state constitutional and referendum hurdles. — The nation's highest court upheld the state supreme court's order, confirming that a valid state-level citizen referendum successfully froze the mid-decade gerrymander. ↩︎