The Missouri Supreme Court has unanimously struck down new congressional districts backed by President Donald Trump, ruling they cannot be used in November’s midterm election and must instead be put before voters in a statewide referendum.
Thursday’s decision marks one of the few judicial setbacks for Republicans in a sprawling, mid-decade redistricting battle that Trump encouraged GOP-controlled states to pursue last year in an effort to protect the party’s narrow House majority.
Trump News Today: Why did the court block the new map?
The court found that the redrawn districts, passed by the Republican-led legislature during a special session, were effectively suspended in December after opponents submitted more than 300,000 petition signatures demanding a public vote on the plan. Judge Ginger K. Gooch wrote that state officials were “restrained and enjoined” from enforcing the new map “unless and until” it is approved by voters in November and takes effect 30 days later.
The court also rejected arguments from Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, who had waited until primary election day in August to reject the referendum petition, contending that redistricting laws could not be challenged through that process. “The referendum petition was legal, sufficient, and timely, and the secretary incorrectly concluded otherwise,” the court said in its ruling.
Trump News Today: What does this mean for the November election?
With the new map suspended, Missouri’s congressional boundaries drawn after the 2020 census will remain in force for this year’s general election. That effectively restores Democratic representative Emanuel Cleaver’s old, heavily Democratic-leaning district, which had been redrawn under the GOP plan to favour Trump by more than 17 percentage points, according to the ruling.
Republicans currently hold six of Missouri’s eight congressional seats, and the new map had been designed to help them capture a seventh.
Trump News Today: How have Republicans and the White House reacted?
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, a Republican, said her office would “move immediately to seek relief” from the US Supreme Court, describing the ruling as having “thrust our state into a full-fledged constitutional crisis.” She argued the decision risked disenfranchising voters just weeks before the election.
Trump also condemned the ruling on social media, arguing there would not be enough time to reverse the decision before polling day.
Trump News Today: How have Democrats responded?
Missouri’s Democratic Party hailed the outcome as a “VICTORY TO THE PEOPLE,” saying in a statement that the state’s top court had “unanimously ruled to reverse the gerrymandered, anti-democracy maps” pending a public vote. The advocacy group behind the referendum campaign, People Not Politicians, said the ruling proved that “the people still hold the power.”
Trump News Today: How does this fit into the wider redistricting fight?
Missouri is among roughly a dozen states caught up in an unusual, mid-decade redistricting battle triggered after Trump urged Texas lawmakers to redraw congressional lines in his favour last year. Most Republican-led states that followed suit produced maps tilted towards the GOP, while Democratic-led California redrew its own boundaries to benefit its party. Legal challenges have since multiplied nationwide, with Missouri alone facing roughly a dozen separate lawsuits over its new districts.
Thursday’s ruling is unlikely to be the final word, with an appeal to the US Supreme Court now expected in the coming days.
