Supreme Court blocks use of GOP-favored map in Missouri — again

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday intervened in Missouri’s contentious redistricting dispute, blocking an order that would have required Republicans to implement a new 7-1 congressional map and directing state officials to use the 2022 6-2 map for the November general election. The court’s unsigned opinion stated plainly that, under state law, the 2022 map—not the 2025 map—must apply to the 2026 congressional contests and warned that changing maps now would risk "electoral chaos." The decision included no noted dissents.

The 7-1 plan had been passed by Missouri Republicans last year and used for the August primaries amid pressure from national GOP figures seeking to create additional pickup opportunities. That effort targeted, among other districts, Representative Emanuel Cleaver’s Kansas City-based seat; with the state reverting to the older lines, Cleaver appears positioned to run for reelection on the 6-2 map. The legal fight escalated when Missouri’s highest state court ruled that a referendum on the congressional lines must go to voters, delaying the 7-1 map’s implementation until it is approved.

Competing federal court orders added to the confusion. After a federal judge was asked to block reversion to the 2022 map, the Supreme Court temporarily lifted that judge’s order, suggesting the new map might not be usable in time. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals then issued a decision effectively reinstating the 7-1 map earlier this week, prompting the latest emergency return to the Supreme Court. The high court sided with the referendum organizer who sought intervention, saying given its prior orders, the conclusion to block the reinstatement "should come as no surprise."

Election administrators had already begun mailing military and overseas ballots using the 6-2 map, and the Supreme Court’s ruling permits officials to continue without making last-minute ballot changes. Still, campaigns, election officials and voters face compressed timelines to confirm who appears on which ballots and to educate voters about district boundaries in the weeks leading up to the general election. Nationally, the ruling affects only a single potential Republican pickup in Missouri and does not materially alter the broader redistricting arithmetic.