WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday blocked an attempt by a Republican state official in Missouri to use a newly drawn GOP congressional map for this year’s elections.
The court, in a brief order with no noted dissents, granted an emergency request brought by a group called People Not Politicians, led by activist Richard von Glahn.
The decision puts on hold a decision by Missouri-based U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark, who ruled Tuesday that the new map must be used, notwithstanding the Missouri Supreme Court’s having reached the opposite conclusion.
The justices’ swift action signals the end of the battle over which congressional map to use in the midterm elections in November, with the state set to use the previous map from 2022, which includes six seats held by Republicans and two held by Democrats.
As a result of the Supreme Court action, “my office is directing local election authorities to use the 2022 congressional map,” Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, a Republican, said in a statement.
The new map sought to eliminate one of the state’s two Democratic-held seats, currently held by Emanuel Cleaver.
“The law is the law, the Missouri constitution is clear, as was the Missouri Supreme Court,” von Glahn said in a statement.
It is the second time the underlying fight has reached the U.S. Supreme Court. On Tuesday, Justice Brett Kavanaugh rejected Hoskins’ request seeking to block the Missouri Supreme Court ruling.
In a separate hearing Thursday, the Missouri Supreme Court found Hoskins to be in contempt of court for failing to comply with its original redistricting ruling.
But the court concluded that Hoskins’ statements Thursday, and his office’s message telling election officials to use the 2022 map, served to purge the contempt finding.
Earlier in the day, with Hoskins appearing in person, the judges peppered his lawyer with questions about whether he would comply and use the 2022 map. They seemed dissatisfied with some of the responses, which were offered before Hoskins’ later clarifying statement.
“We just want to make sure the law is followed,” Chief Justice Brent Powell said, adding that the state was in a “precarious situation.”
The broader clash was over a congressional map Missouri Republicans enacted last year, part of a nationwide redistricting push led by President Donald Trump.
The legal fight began when opponents of the new map gathered signatures in support of a state referendum that would undo the GOP-drawn map and put it on hold for the 2026 election.
But Hoskins delayed a decision about whether to include the measure on the ballot, waiting to the last minute before rejecting the plan, arguing that redistricting plans are not subject to voters’ approval.
The Missouri Supreme Court, which has a majority of Republican appointees, disagreed, saying nothing in state law exempted congressional maps passed by the Legislature from being vetoed by voters via the referendum process.
The federal lawsuit was filed by Rick Brattin, the Republican nominee in Cleaver’s district, as well as Republican Rep. Bob Onder and two voters. Clark then ruled Tuesday that the state must use the map that people voted in during the primary.
The drama was playing out even after Tuesday’s deadline to finalize Missouri ballots ahead of this fall’s elections. First ballots are set to go out in the state on Sept. 19.
