Missouri's Congressional Map Thrown Into Legal Limbo Ahead of November Election

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled unanimously on September 3, 2026, that the state's 2025 congressional redistricting map cannot be used in the November 3 general election and ordered that a referendum on the map appear before voters, marking the first congressional map referendum in Missouri since 1922. The court directed that the 2022 congressional map be used instead for the upcoming election, and Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking a stay of that ruling. On September 8, 2026, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who handles emergency applications from the region, denied Missouri's request to reinstate the 2025 map, leaving the state court's ruling in place. The 2025 map had been drawn by the Republican-led legislature and split a Kansas City-area district represented by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a change Democrats had challenged in court. The same day, a federal judge in a separate lawsuit ruled that the new map must be used, creating directly conflicting orders from state and federal courts within hours of each other. As of the most recent reporting, the congressional map to be used in Missouri's November 2026 election remained unresolved due to the conflicting state and federal rulings issued on September 8. It is unclear how the conflict between the federal judge's order and the U.S. Supreme Court's denial of a stay will be reconciled before the election, and reports describe voters as facing confusion less than two months before voting begins. The redistricting referendum itself, which asks voters to approve or reject the 2025 map, is still scheduled to appear on the November ballot alongside the unresolved question of which map will govern district lines.