Dueling Rulings Throw Missouri House Map Into Chaos

At President Donald Trump's urging, Gov. Mike Kehoe calls the Legislature into special session and Missouri approves a redrawn congressional map. It carves up the 5th District held by longtime Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City, moving parts of the city into two neighboring Republican districts and stretching the rest east into rural Republican territory.

Activists submit thousands of signatures for a petition demanding a statewide referendum on the map.

Missouri holds its primaries under the new map. Cleaver is unopposed in the Democratic primary; state Sen. Rick Brattin wins the Republican primary in the reshaped district. On the same day, Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejects the referendum petition, saying the state constitution does not authorize a referendum on congressional redistricting. A lower court agrees with him.

The Missouri Supreme Court reverses Hoskins, holding that the constitution allows a referendum on "any act" of the Legislature. It rules the new districts were retroactively frozen in December, when the signatures were filed, and so never became law. The state must revert to the districts drawn after the last census and approved in 2022.

Hoskins and the state file an emergency application at the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to pause the state ruling.

Kavanaugh, who handles emergency applications from the 8th Circuit, denies the request without explanation and without referring it to the full court. The same night, U.S. District Chief Judge Stephen Clark of the Eastern District of Missouri — a Trump appointee — issues a temporary restraining order in a separate case brought by congressional candidates, barring state election officials from using any map other than the 2025 map on Nov. 3. Hoskins also certifies the redistricting referendum as Proposition A on the November ballot, complying with the state court's order.