Supreme Court declines Missouri map for the third time, leaving in place the 2022 congressional districts for the state’s 2026 elections. In a five-page, unsigned order released Friday evening, the justices paused a federal appeals court ruling from St. Louis that had directed Missouri to implement a 2025 map expected to boost Republican gains.
The court underscored that federal district and appellate courts should not block the 2022 map, which is already being used for voting underway, in the 2026 congressional election. The justices also said lower courts should not require Missouri to use the 2025 map for the 2026 cycle. No public dissents were noted.
Supreme Court declines Missouri map in ongoing dispute
The fight began after Missouri adopted a new map in September 2025 intended to add a Republican seat in the U.S. House. On Dec. 9, opponents including People Not Politicians and its executive director, Richard von Glahn, submitted more than 300,000 signatures seeking a referendum to place the new map on the November 2026 general election ballot. Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected the petition on Aug. 4, 2026, the deadline day, and the state proceeded with its August primary using the 2025 map.
Von Glahn then turned to state court to overturn Hoskins’ decision and block the 2025 map for November. On Sept. 3, the Missouri Supreme Court unanimously held the referendum petition legal, sufficient, and timely under the state constitution. The court ruled the 2025 map never took effect and will not do so unless voters approve it in November 2026.
The case reached the U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 4 when Hoskins sought to stay the Missouri Supreme Court’s ruling. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who handles emergency matters from that region, denied the request four days later without referring it to the full court.
Also on Sept. 4, Rep. Robert Onder, the GOP nominee for the 3rd Congressional District, another congressional candidate, and two voters sued in federal court in St. Louis to revive the 2025 map. Onder and Richard Brattin, the GOP nominee in the 5th District, argued that reverting to the 2022 map would change the districts where they had just won nominations. Two individual voters said they would be assigned to different districts in November under the 2022 lines.
Soon after Kavanaugh’s denial, Chief U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark ordered Missouri to use the 2025 map, finding the plaintiffs would face irreparable harm because many voters would cast general election ballots for candidates they did not help nominate.
The matter returned to the high court on Sept. 9 when People Not Politicians and von Glahn asked the justices to pause Clark’s order. On Sept. 10, the Supreme Court issued a brief, unsigned order staying Clark’s directive pending the 8th Circuit appeal and any timely petition for Supreme Court review.
The 8th Circuit expedited the case, heard arguments Sept. 17, and on Sept. 21 upheld Clark’s order. It instructed Clark to enter a permanent order requiring use of the 2025 map, but to delay it until Sept. 28 at 5 p.m. CDT to allow the Supreme Court to act.
People Not Politicians and von Glahn returned to the high court on Sept. 22, asking the justices to clarify that their Sept. 10 stay controlled, or alternatively to halt the 8th Circuit’s ruling. They said lower courts should not repackage the same relief after a Supreme Court stay, and warned it was too late to switch to the 2025 map with military and overseas ballots already sent and the Sept. 22 deadline to print and make absentee ballots available.
Missouri and individual plaintiffs backing the 2025 map countered that the challengers lack standing, citing Hollingsworth v. Perry, a 2013 decision holding proponents of a California initiative lacked standing to defend it when the state would not. The state argued it was not too late to reinstate the 2025 map, saying the Missouri Supreme Court had already injected instability and that declining another change would best promote stability for voters.
In granting the request from People Not Politicians and von Glahn on Friday, the Supreme Court noted that as a matter of state law the 2022 map, not the 2025 map, must be used in the 2026 election. The court said its action is consistent with its Sept. 10 order and that the election has effectively begun, so switching maps now would create electoral chaos.
The justices also rejected the 8th Circuit’s view that the Purcell principle favored using the 2025 map because the Missouri Supreme Court had changed the status quo. The opinion emphasized that while federal courts should avoid last-minute changes to election rules, states may make their own decisions. The Missouri Supreme Court, the justices said, had already signaled in May 2026 that the 2025 map would take effect only if voters approved it, so it was not the source of late-breaking disruption.
For Hawaiʻi readers, the ruling reflects a broader national pattern of the Supreme Court cautioning federal courts against late-stage election changes. Missouri voters will continue under the 2022 districts while the referendum process plays out in November 2026.
