The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday evening blocked a federal appeals court directive that would have forced Missouri to adopt a new Republican-favored congressional map for the upcoming November election. The unsigned order preserves the state's 2022 election map, which Democrats and voter advocacy groups had fought to maintain.
The high court cited the risk of "electoral chaos" if Missouri were required to shift to the 2025 map at this late stage. Voting has already begun in the state, making a last-minute change to district boundaries impractical.
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican, expressed disappointment with the decision. Kehoe had championed the state's mid-decade redistricting effort last year, which aimed to implement the 2025 map. He said on Friday that the state would comply with the court's ruling. "It is disappointing that today's decision by the United States Supreme Court means Missouri will conduct its November general election under a different congressional map than its primary election," he said.
The 2022 congressional map currently includes seven Republican-leaning seats and two Democratic-leaning seats. The proposed 2025 map, passed by the Republican-controlled legislature last year, would have reduced Democratic-leaning seats to one.
The move was part of a broader nationwide mid-decade redistricting push encouraged by President Donald Trump. The 2025 map would have redrawn the district held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver to lean Republican.
Months of legal challenges against the 2025 map created confusion among state election administrators and voters. The shifting legal landscape left many uncertain about their congressional district and which candidates were running in their areas.
Democrats and other opponents of the new map filed legal challenges and also pushed for a ballot initiative that would allow Missouri voters to decide in November whether to keep the redrawn map.
The Supreme Court's decision appeared to settle the debate just over a month before Election Day. The opinion explicitly directed lower courts against further intervention, stating: "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. 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."
