Missouri will run its November general election on the congressional districts drawn in 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court granted an emergency stay on Thursday, September 10, 2026, that blocked a federal order requiring the redrawn map backed by President Donald Trump. The state’s primary had already been conducted on the new lines.
No justice publicly dissented. The court gave no reasoning, as is common on emergency applications, releasing instead a brief, unsigned order: “The application for stay presented to Justice [Brett] Kavanaugh and by him referred to the Court is granted.”
What the Stay Does Not Do
Thursday’s action was procedural. The justices issued no opinion, did not rule on the merits and did not declare any map unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark had ordered the state to use the new districts, and the court paused that order pending resolution in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and disposition of any petition for review. The freeze leaves the Missouri Supreme Court’s order as the only governing court order, which means the 2022 map applies. It was the second time in three days that the justices declined to revive the redrawn districts.
Two Courts, Two Conflicting Orders
The redrawn districts, known as HB 1, cleared the legislature in 2025 with Missouri Republicans behind them, and the plan became law that September when Gov. Mike Kehoe signed it. On Thursday, September 3, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the new districts had never legally taken effect and that the older map should be used unless voters approve the change. Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, a Republican, had argued that reverting was technically impossible and would “disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of voters who will now be moved into new districts and forced to vote for candidates they had no role in selecting.” The court was unpersuaded.
Missouri Solicitor General Lou Capozzi filed an emergency application on Hoskins’ behalf just before midnight on Friday, September 4. Attorney General Catherine Hanaway had announced that the appeal was coming, drawing criticism that she was abandoning state precedent. Emergency applications from Missouri go to Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and on Tuesday, September 8, he refused to disturb the state court’s ruling, denying the request himself rather than referring it to his eight colleagues.
Clark issued a temporary restraining order within an hour of that denial becoming public, directing the state to use the 2025 map instead. Republican Rep. Bob Onder, who represents Missouri’s 3rd Congressional District, had brought the federal case on September 4, joined by Republican congressional nominee Rick Brattin and two Missouri voters. Clark found the federal plaintiffs faced irreparable harm without relief.
Referendum organizer Richard von Glahn and the group People Not Politicians, granted leave to intervene as defendants that same day, went to the 8th Circuit on the night of September 8 to halt Clark’s order. The 8th Circuit refused on Wednesday, September 9. They filed an emergency application with the justices that afternoon, docketed as People Not Politicians v. Onder. Kavanaugh set a 10 a.m. EDT deadline the next day for Hoskins and the plaintiffs to answer. Von Glahn argued the federal courts had no business in the case at all, because state law alone underpinned the Missouri Supreme Court’s ruling. Both sides filed briefs with the 8th Circuit on September 15, and the appeal remains pending.
A Primary and a General on Different Maps
Voters cast primary ballots on August 4 under the new districts; the general election in November will run on the 2022 map. The deadline to send ballots to military and overseas voters was nine days away when the order came down.
Only the Missouri Supreme Court’s order remains in effect, Hoskins said in a statement. “In accordance with that order, my Office is directing local election authorities to use the 2022 congressional map,” he said. He had earlier told local election officials to use the new districts, and the Missouri Supreme Court ordered him to appear at a contempt hearing on Thursday, September 10; a federal judge turned down his request to halt that hearing.
Reaction and the November Ballot
Ally Triolo, the Republican National Committee’s election integrity communications director, said repeated legal victories had defended what she called Missouri’s fair and lawful map, and that the 11th-hour ruling pulled the rug out from under voters who had already cast primary ballots. “Changing the rules mid-election is reckless and wrong,” she said. Republican state officials have argued that switching districts before the general election would violate voters’ federal rights.
Under the redrawn lines, the Kansas City-based 5th Congressional District held by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Missouri Democrat, is dismantled, with parts shifted into neighboring districts and the remainder extended into heavily Republican territory. As drawn, the map gave Republicans a strong chance of taking seven of the state’s eight U.S. House seats, up from six. Nationally, Republicans hold 218 seats to the Democrats’ 214, with one independent who caucuses with them and two vacancies.
Opponents of the map turned in more than 300,000 petition signatures in December 2025, seeking a statewide referendum. August 4 was the last day Hoskins could reject the petition, and he did so, prompting a state court suit from von Glahn the same day. The measure reached the ballot by order of the Missouri Supreme Court, appearing as Proposition A, a veto referendum, on November 3, when voters will decide whether the redrawn districts can be used in future elections.
Trump backed the redrawn map and previously called the Missouri Supreme Court’s ruling “ridiculous.” He has said nothing publicly about Thursday’s order.