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The Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday (March 24) to uphold a Republican-drawn congressional map that gives the GOP a better shot at winning an additional U.S. House seat in the 2026 midterm elections. The decision delivers a significant legal victory for President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers, while dealing a blow to Democrats who had challenged the map.
The court ruled four to three that Missouri's Republican-controlled Legislature had the authority to redraw the state's congressional districts in the middle of a decade, rather than waiting for the next census. The ruling centered on the word "when" in a state constitutional provision that says the General Assembly shall redraw congressional districts "when" new census data is certified. The court concluded there was no explicit ban on redistricting more than once per decade.
Judge Zel Fischer wrote in support of the majority that the circuit court "correctly concluded" the legislation was "valid," because the state constitution "obligates the General Assembly to redistrict when the United States census is certified to the governor but does not otherwise expressly limit the General Assembly's plenary power to legislate congressional districts."
The new map targets the Kansas City-area seat currently held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. It reassigns portions of the district to two neighboring areas and stretches the rest into Republican-heavy rural territory. Missouri currently sends six Republicans and two Democrats to the U.S. House.
Missouri's Republican-led Legislature passed the new map in September, at the urging of President Trump, shortly after Texas Republicans redrew their own congressional districts. President Trump is hoping the redrawn maps across several states could help Republicans hold onto their narrow House majority, where Democrats need only a few more seats in November to win control and potentially block the president's agenda.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway and Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, both Republicans, declared the new map is already in effect. Six Republicans have entered a primary to challenge Cleaver under the new boundaries, with candidate filing set to close on March 31.
"The Missouri Supreme Court has reinforced what we've known all along — the Missouri FIRST Map and mid-decade redistricting are constitutional," Hanaway said in a statement.
Opponents, however, are not done fighting. Attorney Chuck Hatfield, who represented the plaintiffs, said, "We lost a battle today, but the war to stop this unfair redistricting goes on."
Opponents have already submitted more than 300,000 petition signatures in an attempt to put the new map to a statewide vote. A separate lawsuit argues the referendum signatures should automatically suspend the new map until voters weigh in during the November election. A trial judge has yet to rule on that challenge.
A second legal challenge arguing the new districts fail to meet the state's compactness requirements and dilute the voting power of Black communities was recently rejected at the circuit court level but is now being appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court.