For the third time in just over two weeks, the Supreme Court declined to let Missouri Republicans jam through a maximal gerrymander, this time with an air of exasperation.
There were no noted dissents.
The 2026 midterms in Missouri, for which voting has already begun, will officially be held under the 2022 map, a likely 6 Republicans to 2 Democrats gerrymander. Missouri Republicans had tried to use a map passed by the legislature last year that would have carved up the congressional district including much of Kansas City and produced a 7-1 Republican split.
“This Court’s September 10 stay order meant that the 2022 map would be used in the 2026 congressional election in Missouri, absent further order of this Court. And the election has now begun under the 2022 map,” said the unsigned, per curiam ruling. “But on September 21, 11 days after this Court’s most recent order, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ordered the District Court to enter a permanent injunction in effect requiring use of the 2025 map instead of the 2022 map in the 2026 election.”
“Given this Court’s two prior orders in this litigation, our conclusion that this was [an] error should come as no surprise,” the justices added dryly.
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals panel — all Republican appointees — shocked court watchers when it attempted to circumvent the Supreme Court’s block on the 2025 map earlier this week.
The Court didn’t spare Secretary of State Denny Hoskins (R) either, who tried to block the new gerrymander from the state’s referendum process, which freezes new legislation until it can be put to a statewide vote if petitioners can collect enough signatures. Despite an early indication from the Missouri Supreme Court that use of the new map would not be lawful if the signatures met the requirements, Hoskins delayed his rejection of the petition until the last possible day, ensuring that the primaries would be held under the 2025 map. Hoskins’ allied Republicans then argued that it was unconstitutional for the general election to be held under a different map than the primaries.
“In the several-month period before the August primary election, the Missouri Secretary of State was well aware that conducting the August primary election with the 2025 map carried significant risks,” the ruling said. “The Secretary nonetheless chose to proceed with the 2025 map for the primary.”
The order’s vexed tone carries through to the conclusion, in which the Court describes the state of play in language that cannot possibly be misinterpreted by the lower courts.
“The District Court and Court of Appeals should not enjoin or otherwise prohibit the use of the 2022 map in the 2026 congressional election in Missouri,” it said. “And the District Court and Court of Appeals should not order or otherwise require Missouri to use the 2025 map in the 2026 congressional election in Missouri.”
Missouri voters will get to choose whether they want to use the 2025 map in future elections on the November ballot.
Read the ruling here:
Nice burn on the District Court and the Court of Appeals of MO from the SC. But what other chicanery does DonOLD have in his back pocket?