People gather at the Missouri statehouse in Jefferson City on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, to protest the legislature’s efforts to change the state’s congressional district maps.
Tammy Ljungblad | Kansas City Star | Tribune News Service | Getty Images
The Missouri Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a Republican-drawn new congressional map from being used in November’s midterm elections, dealing a blow to the party’s odds of maintaining its narrow U.S. House majority.
The ruling could return longtime Democratic U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver to the House, after his Kansas City-based district was dismantled under the redrawn map.
The court found the state’s Republican secretary of state, Denny Hoskins, improperly rejected an effort to put the new map to a voter referendum before it could take effect.
Republican lawmakers had installed the new map as part of a broader campaign backed by President Donald Trump to redraw district lines to favor the party’s candidates.
Some Democratic states responded with their own redistricting plans. But Republicans eventually secured an advantage after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling permitted several conservative Southern states to eliminate districts with significant Black populations.
