A legal fight over which map Missouri voters will use this November is creating its own convoluted twists and turns.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a bid from Missouri to use a redrawn congressional map for the 2026 elections that targeted a Democratic-held district.
Republicans had asked the justices to step in and halt a ruling from the state’s highest court, which would have voters choose their U.S. representatives from a map used in the 2022 elections.
The decision is a win for Democrats who had fought a Republican-led redistricting that split a Kansas City seat held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. The old map yielded a state delegation with six Republicans and two Democrats.
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Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who oversees emergency requests from the region, denied Missouri’s application without explanation.
But it may not be the final court action in the redistricting clash.
At almost the same time as the Supreme Court order, in a separate case brought by a member of Congress and others, a federal judge quickly halted the use of any map other than the one drawn this year by the Republican-controlled state Legislature for two weeks while litigation plays out.
“Using a different map for the general election would wreak havoc on the fairness and orderliness of Missouri’s congressional elections, calling into question the candidacy of those nominated in the primaries and the votes of those who voted in the primaries,” Stephen R. Clark, the chief judge of the U.S. Eastern District of Missouri, said in his decision.
“Widespread voter confusion would inevitably follow,” Clark added. “The public interest factor thus weighs in favor” of a preliminary injunction.
The order will remain in effect for two weeks while Clark considers whether to extend the use of the new map through November. His order acknowledged that Kavanaugh had just denied Missouri’s application.
That decision was immediately followed by an appeal to the U.S. 8th Circuit Court from the citizens group behind the original lawsuit over the maps
The Missouri dispute is part of a nationwide wave of mid-decade redistricting ordered up by President Donald Trump to aid Republicans in protecting their narrow House majority.
Democratic-led states responded with redistricting efforts of their own.
The back-and-forth over Missouri’s electoral map comes less than two months before Election Day, amid several late-breaking court fights over election procedures, including ongoing litigation over mail-voting rules.
This story has been updated with new developments.
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