Missouri Supreme Court blocks Trump-backed US House map and orders it be put to a vote

The Missouri Supreme Court has unanimously blocked new congressional districts backed by President Donald Trump from being used in the November election and ordered a statewide vote on whether to uphold or reject the new map.

The decision Thursday marks a rare setback for Republicans in a national redistricting battle . Republicans had hoped Missouri’s new congressional boundaries could help them win an additional seat and hold onto their slim House majority in the midterms. The ruling still could be appealed to the US Supreme Court.

Missouri’s new districts were used in the August primaries. But the state Supreme Court said they cannot be used in the November general election — or ever again, unless voters first uphold the new districts passed by the Republican-led Legislature.

The court ruled that the new districts were effectively placed on hold in December, when opponents submitted over 300,000 petition signatures seeking to put the map to a vote of the people. Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins waited until primary election day in August to reject the petition . He asserted that the referendum process cannot be used for congressional redistricting. A lower court agreed, but the Supreme Court overturned Hoskins’ decision.

“The referendum petition was legal, sufficient, and timely, and the secretary incorrectly concluded otherwise,” the court said in its ruling. The legislation containing the new districts “did not go into effect and will not go into effect unless and until approved by the voters.” As a result, the congressional map adopted after the 2020 census “remains in full force and effect for the November 2026 general election.”

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, whose office represented Hoskins, called the ruling an unprecedented violation of federal law.

“Never before in American history has a court overturned a congressional map after a primary and before a general election,” Hanaway said in a statement.

The Missouri Constitution does not specifically say a referendum petition can be used for a congressional redistricting law passed by the Legislature. But the Supreme Court ruled that a constitutional provision allowing a referendum on “any act” of the Legislature encompasses congressional redistricting. It rejected assertions from Hanaway’s office that federal law prohibits referendum petitions on congressional redistricting.

The ruling capped a year of political maneuvering and legal wrangling over the new districts.

Yong Li Xuan/Missourian/AP

Missouri lawmakers give final approval to map targeting a Democratic House seat

Missouri currently has six Republicans and two Democrats in the US House.

After Trump urged Republicans to redraw congressional districts to their advantage, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe called lawmakers into a special session last year to dramatically reconfigure the 5th Congressional District, held by Democrat Emanuel Cleaver.

Cleaver, who was unopposed in the August primary, has carried the Kansas City-based district with at least 60% of the vote in each of the past two elections.

Republican state Sen. Rick Brattin won an August primary in the reshaped 5th Congressional District, which had been stretched eastward to include rural Republican areas. About 59% of the district’s voters were new under the revised map, according to an Associated Press estimate.

Cleaver had not posted campaign signs in many of the new rural areas, explaining that he was waiting for the Missouri Supreme Court’s decision. But he had vowed to continue his reelection campaign regardless of the outcome.

“We’re going to run, and we’re going to run hard, no matter where we are,” Cleaver said last month at the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia, which had been added to the revised 5th District.

Brattin, a Marine veteran and founding member of the conservative Missouri Freedom Caucus in the state Legislature, had questioned whether Cleaver could represent a wider district.

“I think his whole campaign strategy was hoping that the courts would do his bidding for him. I don’t think that he represents Missouri values,” Brattin had said at the State Fair.

Congressional districts typically are redrawn at the start of each decade, based on new census data. But Trump’s quest for a midterm election advantage triggered an unusual mid-decade redistricting battle that spread to more than a dozen states — and triggered a dozen lawsuits in Missouri alone. All told, Republicans had hoped to net as many as 10 additional seats nationally.

The Missouri Supreme Court ruling was one of only a few nationally to go against Republicans’ redistricting plans.

Prior to its latest ruling, Missouri’s top court already had rejected claims that the special session was illegal, mid-decade redistricting isn’t allowed and the new districts aren’t compact enough.

The group People Not Politicians spearheaded the referendum petition.

A couple hundred people chanted “Let us vote!” while rallying Wednesday outside the state Supreme Court. Grant Christensen, of Jefferson City, said he had signed the referendum petition to put the map to a vote.

“Gerrymandering is the same as voter suppression,” Christensen said. “Cutting up districts in order to steer them to vote one way or the other is not fair.”

密苏里州最高法院一致阻止了唐纳德·特朗普总统支持的新国会选区划分方案在11月大选中使用，并下令全州投票决定是否维持或否决该新选区划分方案。

周四的裁决对共和党而言是一次罕见的挫败，尤其是在全国选区重划之争中。共和党原本希望密苏里州新的国会选区划分能够帮助他们在中期选举中赢得一个额外的席位，从而保住他们在众议院的微弱多数席位。该裁决仍有可能上诉至美国最高法院。

密苏里州的新选区划分方案已在8月份的初选中使用。但州最高法院表示，这些新选区划分方案不能在11月份的大选中使用，而且除非选民首先认可共和党控制的州议会通过的新选区划分方案，否则以后都不能再使用。

法院裁定，新的选区划分方案实际上在去年12月就被搁置，当时反对者提交了超过30万个签名请愿书，要求将选区划分方案提交全民公投。共和党籍州务卿丹尼·霍斯金斯等到8月初选日才驳回了请愿书。他声称，全民公投程序不能用于国会选区重划。下级法院同意了他的观点，但最高法院推翻了霍斯金斯的决定。

法院在裁决中指出：“公投请愿书合法、充分且及时，而州务卿的结论却有误。”包含新选区的立法“并未生效，且除非获得选民批准，否则不会生效。”因此，2020年人口普查后通过的国会选区划分方案“将继续有效，直至2026年11月大选”。

代表霍斯金斯的密苏里州总检察长凯瑟琳·哈纳威称，该裁决是对联邦法律前所未有的违反。

“在美国历史上，法院在初选后、大选前推翻国会选区划分方案的情况从未发生过，”汉纳威在一份声明中说。

密苏里州宪法并未明确规定可以通过公民投票请愿来决定州议会通过的国会选区重划法案。但最高法院裁定，宪法中允许就州议会“任何法案”举行公民投票的条款涵盖了国会选区重划法案。最高法院驳回了汉纳威办公室关于联邦法律禁止就国会选区重划法案举行公民投票请愿的说法。

该裁决结束了围绕新选区长达一年的政治角力和法律纠纷。

勇丽轩/密苏里州/美联社

密苏里州议员最终批准了一项旨在争取民主党众议院席位的地图。

密苏里州目前在美国众议院有六名共和党人和两名民主党人。

在特朗普敦促共和党人重新划分国会选区以利于共和党之后，密苏里州州长迈克·基奥去年召集立法者召开特别会议，对民主党人伊曼纽尔·克利弗所在的第五国会选区进行了大幅度重新划分。

克利弗在 8 月份的初选中没有遇到对手，在过去的两次选举中，他都以至少 60% 的得票率赢得了堪萨斯城选区的席位。

共和党州参议员里克·布拉廷在8月份的初选中赢得了重新划分的第五国会选区。该选区向东扩展，纳入了共和党占优势的农村地区。据美联社估计，根据新的选区划分，该选区约有59%的选民是新选民。

克利弗并未在许多新当选的农村地区张贴竞选标语，他解释说，他正在等待密苏里州最高法院的裁决。但他誓言，无论结果如何，他都将继续他的连任竞选。

“无论我们在哪里，我们都会全力以赴地竞选，”克利弗上个月在塞达利亚的密苏里州博览会场说道，塞达利亚已被纳入修订后的第五选区。

布拉廷是一名海军陆战队退伍老兵，也是州议会保守派密苏里自由党团的创始成员，他曾质疑克利弗是否能够代表更广泛的选区。

“我认为他的整个竞选策略就是希望法院能为他效力。我不认为他代表了密苏里州的价值观，”布拉廷在州博览会上说道。

国会选区通常每十年初根据新的普查数据重新划分。但特朗普为争取中期选举优势而发起的选区重划之争，引发了一场罕见的十年中期选区重划之争，这场争斗蔓延至十几个州——仅在密苏里州就引发了十几起诉讼。总而言之，共和党原本希望在全国范围内增加多达10个席位。

密苏里州最高法院的裁决是全国范围内少数几个反对共和党重新划分选区的裁决之一。

在最新裁决之前，密苏里州最高法院已经驳回了关于特别会议非法、十年中期重新划分选区不被允许以及新选区不够紧凑的说法。

“人民而非政客”组织率先发起了全民公投请愿活动。

周三，数百人在州最高法院外集会，高喊“让我们投票！”。来自杰斐逊市的格兰特·克里斯滕森表示，他已签署了要求就选区划分方案进行全民公投的请愿书。

克里斯滕森说：“选区划分不公等同于选民压制。为了引导选民投票给某一方而分割选区是不公平的。”