Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins’ cynical attempt to impose an unlawful and gerrymandered map before the 2026 midterm election has been stopped thanks to the advocacy of more than 300,000 Missourians and following multiple decisions issued by both the Missouri Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.
On September 10, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order granting a stay of a district court order that blocked the use of Missouri’s lawful congressional map. This order comes two days after the Supreme Court rejected a separate stay application filed by the Missouri secretary of state that sought to reinstate the unlawful gerrymandered congressional map passed by the legislature in 2025.
This fast-moving litigation at the U.S. Supreme Court follows a decision last week by the Missouri Supreme Court that unanimously upheld Missourians’ right to hold a referendum on the state’s gerrymandered 2025 congressional map, and held that until that map is voted on and approved by the people of Missouri, the prior congressional map must remain in effect
Following this flurry of court rulings, Missouri voters will vote under a lawful map in the 2026 midterm election.
How did we get here?
In 2025, the Missouri General Assembly passed a new gerrymandered congressional map, as part of the mid-decade redistricting push President Trump had called for. In response to this new map, more than 300,000 Missourians signed a petition to put the map to a vote via referendum. Having obtained more than twice the number of signatures needed, the new map should have been suspended until voters had a chance to vote to either approve or disapprove it.
Instead, Secretary Hoskins engaged in deliberate delay tactics in an attempt to force Missouri voters to vote under an unlawful map. In response, a Missouri voter sued in defense of their referendum petition rights under the Missouri Constitution and the Federal Elections Clause.
The Missouri Supreme Court unanimously agreed with the voter, ruling that the new map "is not the law and has never been the law” in Missouri. In an attempt to keep this unlawful map in place for the 2026 midterms, Secretary Hoskins filed a stay application with the U.S. Supreme Court.
Just as we did at the Missouri Supreme Court, Campaign Legal Center, the ACLU of Missouri and the ACLU Voting Rights Project filed an amicus brief, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to protect Missourians’ right to vote for and under fair maps.
The Supreme Court did not agree with Secretary Hoskins, and Justice Kavanaugh denied his request to reinstate the gerrymandered map on September 8.
But mere moments later, a lower federal district court issued an order blocking the state from using its lawful map. This case was appealed to the Supreme Court as well, and Campaign Legal Center and our partners filed another amicus brief, urging the court to stay the district court’s unlawful order.
On September 10, the Supreme Court stayed that lower court order, meaning Missourians will be voting under the lawful 2022 congressional districts come November.
And, they’ll have the opportunity to vote on whether the new 2025 map should ever take effect.
The Federal Elections Clause is clear: States have the power to draw their own maps according to the laws of the state, and Missouri’s Constitution includes the people’s right to referendum.
Campaign Legal Center is proud to have been a part of this important victory, because our democracy cannot work unless all voters can vote under fair maps and have a meaningful say in their government. Join us today as we continue our work to protect all voters and their right to fair representation.