The Supreme Court rejected Republicans’ third bid to use Missouri’s 7-1 Republican map for the November 2026 midterms, leaving the 2022 map in place. The justices said ballots had been mailed and voting had begun, so switching to the 2025 map could cause electoral chaos.
The 2025 map would have broken up the Kansas City base of Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s 5th District and extended it into rural, Republican-leaning areas. It would have shifted Missouri from a 6-2 split between Republican- and Democratic-leaning districts to a 7-1 Republican-leaning map.
The dispute followed conflicting state and federal rulings. Missouri’s highest court ordered a return to the 2022 map so voters could decide which map to use in a referendum, while a federal appeals court said the November map could not differ from the one used in the August primary. The Supreme Court cited the Purcell principle, which cautions federal courts against last-minute changes to election rules.
