Missouri Court Allows Trump-Backed Districts in November

A Missouri judge has ruled that new U.S. House districts backed by President Donald Trump can be used in the November election, rejecting a bid to put the Republican-friendly map to a statewide vote. The decision by Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green on Wednesday is a victory for Republicans seeking to protect their slim majority in the U.S. House, but the case is far from settled.

Opponents of the redistricting plan quickly announced an appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court, setting up a high-stakes legal showdown with a September 8 deadline looming for courts to add items to the November ballot.

The Ruling and Its Legal Foundation

Judge Green ruled that the Missouri Constitution does not give voters referendum authority over congressional redistricting, which he said is an area the state and federal constitutions separately assign to the General Assembly. “The Missouri Constitution does not supply any statement — let alone a clear one — reallocating authority over congressional redistricting away from the General Assembly to a referendum process,” Green wrote in the ruling, as reported by AP News.

The judge also rejected arguments that the referendum’s automatic suspension of the map would be consistent with a republican form of government. “The result Plaintiff seeks is inconsistent with a republican form of government,” Green wrote. “On his theory, a small minority of voters can nullify a congressional map enacted by the People’s elected representatives without any majority vote,” as St. Louis Public Radio reported.

Green additionally concluded that changing districts after Missouri already held its August 4 primaries would violate federal election deadlines, disrupt the general election, and risk invalidating primary votes.

The Map at the Center of the Dispute

The new congressional map, passed as House Bill 1 in 2025, was designed to help Republicans defeat Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City. It reassigns portions of Kansas City to two neighboring districts represented by Republicans and stretches the remainder of Cleaver’s 5th Congressional District far eastward into Republican-heavy rural areas. About 59% of its voters are new to the 5th District, according to an Associated Press estimate.

Missouri’s current U.S. House delegation consists of six Republicans and two Democrats. Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe called the Legislature into a special session on redistricting last year after Trump urged Republican-led states to redraw congressional boundaries to their advantage ahead of the midterms. When signing the map into law in September 2025, Kehoe said, “We believe this map best represents Missourians, and I appreciate the support and efforts of state legislators, our congressional delegation, and President Trump in getting this map to my desk,” as AP News reported.

Cleaver has denounced the redistricting plan for using Kansas City’s Troost Avenue — a street that has long segregated Black and white residents — as one of the dividing lines for the new districts.

The Referendum Effort

The group People Not Politicians submitted more than 305,000 signatures in December 2025 to force a statewide referendum on the new map. Local election officials approved well more than the roughly 111,000 needed to qualify for the ballot. “Our democracy belongs to us, not to politicians, and we’re going to have the final say,” said Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians, as KCUR reported.

On primary day, August 4, 2026, Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected the petition, asserting that Missouri’s Constitution doesn’t allow a referendum on congressional redistricting. The group then filed suit, leading to Wednesday’s ruling.

Reactions and the Path Forward

Following the ruling, von Glahn said the fight is far from over. “Everyone knows that Cole County is not the final decision here,” he said. “After months of delay, we are pleased to be moving forward to the Missouri Supreme Court to enforce our constitutional rights.”

Hoskins celebrated the decision, declaring, “The Missouri First Map remains the law of the land.” He added, “I’m 2-for-2 today and still batting a thousand,” referencing a separate ruling that blocked a ballot initiative known as the Respect Missouri Voters measure.

Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters called the ruling “a resounding victory for Missouri voters and election integrity,” stating that “the court rejected Democrats’ latest scheme to overturn lawful congressional maps and create chaos ahead of the election,” as Missouri Independent via KTTN reported.

National Redistricting Context

Missouri’s mid-decade redistricting effort has been among the most litigated nationally, triggering about a dozen lawsuits over the past year. The state was the second Republican-led state, after Texas, to respond to Trump’s call to redraw congressional districts. Republicans hope to win as many as 16 additional seats from new House maps enacted in eight states: Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama.

The redistricting effort gained additional steam when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a majority Black congressional district in Louisiana in late April, prompting Republicans in several Southern states to also redraw districts that had large minority populations.

It’s been more than 100 years since a Missouri redistricting plan faced a referendum. In 1922, voters rejected a new congressional map passed by the Republican-led Legislature, as Democracy Docket noted.

What’s Next

The case now moves to the Missouri Supreme Court, where the referendum’s fate will be decided. Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Brent Powell has already urged swift action, and the court has expedited a related case for a September 2 hearing. The deadline for courts to add items to the November ballot is September 8.

If the Supreme Court reverses Green’s ruling and determines that the 2025 map never went into effect, it could potentially prompt candidates who lost in the August primaries to sue for redo elections.

For now, Missouri’s new congressional districts remain in place for the November election, with State Sen. Rick Brattin having won the Republican primary in the reshaped 5th District and Cleaver running unopposed for the Democratic nomination. The outcome of the Supreme Court appeal will determine whether voters ultimately have a say on the map that will shape Missouri’s congressional representation for years to come.