Missouri asks US Supreme Court to restore GOP-backed voting map

Missouri and its Republican leaders asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate a congressional map engineered by GOP lawmakers in the state to favor the party in November’s midterm elections.

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The emergency request Friday follows a ruling by the Missouri Supreme Court casting aside the new map and delivering a victory to Democrats, who would likely lose a House seat if the new map was allowed to stand.The Republican-backed map was already used during the state’s primaries earlier this year.

“Missouri has completed a primary election, yet it now faces the unprecedented scenario of being forced to apply a starkly different congressional map in the 2026 general election,” the state and GOP leaders write in the filing. “Voting starts in Missouri’s general election in 15 days. Election officials and public commentators are unsure whether it is even possible to comply with the Missouri Supreme Court’s order.”

The dispute is one of almost a dozen redistricting-related cases being fought across the country, as some states have sought to redraw their district lines for partisan gain ahead of the midterm elections. Republican leaders in Missouri redrew their congressional districts to favor their party last year, at the request of President Donald Trump.

The stakes are high. Republicans hold very narrow majorities in the House and Senate, and Trump’s approval ratings have slid in recent polls. If Democrats can retake the House, they’d be positioned to block Trump’s legislative agenda and pursue oversight actions targeting his administration.

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The Missouri Supreme Court’s decision released on Thursday requires the state to return to the congressional map that has been in place since 2022, pending a referendum on redistricting that will go before voters in November. State officials had sought to use the redrawn lines prior to the referendum, but the court ruled unanimously that it should not have been implemented without the approval of voters.

Trump criticized the ruling in a post on his Truth Social platform and said the court “ridiculously ruled in favor of changing the maps back to what they were a long time ago. It’s called Ancient History.”

The case is Denny Hoskins, in his capacity as Missouri Secretary of State, v. Richard von Glahn, 26A304.

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This story was originally published September 5, 2026 at 2:51 PM.