More than 1.4 million Missourians live in a different congressional district depending on which of two maps the state uses. On Monday, September 21, 2026, a federal appeals court decided which one they will get in November: the Republican-drawn 2025 map.
“The Constitution does not permit Missouri to use a different congressional district map in the November 2026 general election than it used in the August 2026 primary election,” the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote. Roll Call quoted the panel more bluntly: only use of the 2025 map “complies with the Constitution and federal law.” Missouri held its August primary under that map.
The court put its own order on hold until 5 p.m. on Sept. 28 so the losing side can appeal. Without a stay, it noted, Secretary of State Denny Hoskins and local election authorities would have to start carrying out the 2025 map before the U.S. Supreme Court could even receive an appeal. For now the 2022 districts remain in place.
How the state got here
Missouri adopted the 2025 plan amid a national scramble over partisan redistricting. It targets one of the state’s two Democrats, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II of Kansas City. Soon after lawmakers passed it, the group People Not Politicians launched a statewide referendum campaign. The primaries went ahead under the 2025 lines while that effort was pending.
On Sept. 3 the Missouri Supreme Court ruled the referendum petition against HB 1 was legal and sufficient, which suspended the new map unless voters approve it and left the 2022 districts for November. Earlier this month Justice Brett Kavanaugh turned down a request to block that ruling. The same day, Chief U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark ordered Missouri to use the 2025 map instead. People Not Politicians took an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, which on Sept. 10 stayed Clark’s order and restored the 2022 map. The case then went back to the 8th Circuit, and a three-judge panel heard arguments last Thursday.
The suit was brought by U.S. Rep. Bob Onder, state Sen. Rick Brattin, and voters Patricia Thomas and Debra Havens. Missouri and Hoskins are the defendants. The court counted 284,000 people who voted in one district in the primary and would land in a different one on the 2022 map in November.
A split on standing
Judge David Stras agreed in part and dissented in part. He acknowledged a “probable violation” of Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution, but argued that People Not Politicians and its director, Richard von Glahn, lacked standing to appeal.
Election officials had pleaded against another switch. The Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities, which speaks for all 116 local election jurisdictions, told the court it was “practically impossible” to revert to the HB 1 map given the time and cost of reprinting and distributing ballots. The judges were not persuaded, saying the state could still use the 2025 map even though absentee ballots had gone out on the 2022 lines.
Another trip to Washington
People Not Politicians said it would appeal. “Ballots have been printed, and Missourians have already voted,” von Glahn said in a statement. “Thousands more will vote before this order seeks to take effect. Officials should stop wasting taxpayers’ money on pointless legal action and instead focus on administering our elections.”
It would be the third time the dispute has reached the Supreme Court in some form.
Sources
- Missouri congressional map: Back to the U.S. Supreme Court – KMBC
- Appeals court backs GOP-drawn map in Missouri – Roll Call
