Missouri Elections Chief Held in Contempt, Then Cleared
Missouri Elections Chief Held in Contempt, Then Cleared
The News
The Missouri Supreme Court found Secretary of State Denny Hoskins in contempt of court on Thursday for directing local election officials to use a new Republican-drawn congressional map, then cleared the finding the same day after he reversed course.
Chief Justice W. Brent Powell announced both the contempt finding and its purge during an afternoon hearing, after Hoskins told the court he had instructed local election authorities to use the 2022 map instead.
The reversal came hours after the U.S. Supreme Court halted a federal district court order that had told Missouri officials to use the newer 2025 map.
The practical result, as the Washington Examiner put it, is that Republicans are not likely to pick up an additional Missouri seat in November — a blow to the party's effort to hold its narrow House majority.
The Two Maps
The 2022 map was used in the 2022 and 2024 elections and has produced a 6-2 Republican advantage in Missouri's congressional delegation. The 2025 map, passed last year and used in the August primary, would likely give Republicans a 7-1 edge.
Timeline
The Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the 2025 map would face a referendum in November and that the 2022 map would therefore govern the upcoming election.
A federal district court ordered Missouri officials to use the 2025 map, setting up directly conflicting state and federal rulings. Hoskins said he would follow the federal order and use the 2025 map, prompting the state high court to schedule a contempt hearing.
A federal appeals court declined to halt the district court's order, and a federal judge allowed the Missouri Supreme Court's contempt hearing to go forward, leaving Hoskins facing possible sanctions for obeying a federal order that clashed with the state court's.
Minutes before the contempt hearing, the U.S. Supreme Court halted the district court ruling that had required the 2025 map. After a tense hearing, state officials agreed to use the 2022 map in November.
Powell issued the contempt finding and immediately declared it purged.
Reactions
"The civil contemptor has, at all times, the power to purge himself," Powell said at the hearing, according to The National Desk. "The court finds the secretary has since corrected his contemptuous conduct by directing all local election authorities to use the 2022 congressional district map. The secretary, therefore, has purged himself of said contempt."
Hoskins said in a statement ahead of the hearing that after the U.S. Supreme Court acted, the only "governing court order in effect is from the Missouri Supreme Court," and that his office would be "directing local election authorities to use the 2022 congressional map."
Conservative outlet RedState had framed the central question of the week as whether a secretary of state can be held in contempt for following a federal court order. The left-leaning New Republic cast the outcome as a MAGA official who "barely" avoided a contempt sanction after trying to redraw seats.
The Independent reported that the rapid back-and-forth left some Missouri voters frustrated and unsure which congressional district they were in.
What's Next
Proceedings in the federal lawsuit continue at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, but with the U.S. Supreme Court's order in place it appears likely the 2022 map will be used in November.
The deadlines to ship mail ballots to service members overseas fall next week, which is why the map fight left county clerks scrambling to finalize ballots.
More
The dispute is one strand of a national redistricting fight ahead of the midterms. The U.S. Supreme Court has now twice rejected efforts to put the Trump-backed Missouri map in place for November.
Poll
When state and federal courts issue conflicting orders, which should an elections official follow?
Charleston White Arrested Again on Florida Battery Charge
Border Patrol Rescues MS NOW Crew in Desert
Sep 13, 2026
Supreme Court Restores Missouri's Old House Map
Sep 13, 2026
Alaska Drops Felony Voter Charges Against Samoans
Sep 13, 2026
Trespasser Breaches Harris' Malibu Estate; No Arrest
Sep 12, 2026
Hegseth Pressed Downed Airmen Into 60 Minutes
Sep 12, 2026
Houthis Seize Mokha, Choking Saudi Oil Exports
Sep 12, 2026
Altman Rules Out OpenAI IPO This Year
Sep 12, 2026
Jury Acquits Lil Durk in Murder-for-Hire Case
Sep 12, 2026
Judge: Trump Broke Law Halving FEMA Staff
Sep 12, 2026
Maher Calls Democrats' Gaza Genocide Claim a Lie
Sep 12, 2026
Blizzard Revives StarCraft, Sends Diablo to Netflix
Sep 12, 2026
Trump's Queens Childhood Home Sells for $1.93M
Sep 12, 2026
Scientists Find New Virus in Tick Invading US
Sep 12, 2026
Britain Bans Settlement Imports; US States Threaten Payback
Sep 12, 2026
Prison Fire Kills 7 as Kurds Protest Killing
Sep 12, 2026
Kosovo Rallies for Ex-President Before Hague Verdict
Sep 12, 2026
Cruz Booed at GameDay Over College Sports Bill
Sep 12, 2026
Blast Hits Bulgarian Arms Plant Supplying Ukraine
Sep 12, 2026
DOJ Loses Nearly Every Protester Assault Trial
Sep 12, 2026
Sep 13, 2026