Federal judge revives GOP-friendly Missouri congressional map after Kavanaugh denies Republicans' appeal
The issue is likely to return to the Supreme Court as soon as Wednesday.
Shortly after Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh declined to intervene in the dispute over Missouri's congressional map -- leaving in place a state court mandate that officials use a map favored by Democrats -- a federal district court judge issued an opposing decision that the GOP-preferred map should stand, at least for now.
"Using a different map for the general election would wreak havoc on the fairness and orderliness of Missouri's congressional elections, calling into question the candidacy of those nominated in the primaries and the votes of those who voted in the primaries. Widespread voter confusion would inevitably follow," Judge Stephen Clark wrote.
The legal whiplash injected fresh confusion as both parties continue to wrangle over a mid-decade redistricting push and state election administrators scramble to prepare ballots for the November election.
The bottom line at the moment is that the standoff over Missouri's U.S. House districts remains unresolved and is likely to return to the Supreme Court, possibly as soon as Wednesday.
It's the latest twist in Missouri's unprecedented fight over redistricting that has stretched past the deadline by which candidates and voters typically settle in for the fall campaign.
The state's Republican-controlled legislature last year passed into law a new congressional map that redrew the district currently held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver to lean Republican as part of a nationwide mid-decade redistricting push encouraged by President Donald Trump.
But Democrats and other opponents of the new map filed legal challenges and began a ballot initiative to put the new map up for a vote in November, allowing voters to potentially decide whether to keep the map in place. They also argued that if the new map was put up for a referendum vote in November, that would suspend the law establishing the new map unless voters approved it and that Missouri's elections should be held under the state's older congressional map.
Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins initially decided in early August that he would not certify the referendum to the ballot, saying he had determined it was unconstitutional. The group pushing the referendum vote, People Not Politicians, successfully appealed that ruling to the state Supreme Court, which ruled to block the new map from being used in November and to allow the ballot initiative to proceed.
Republicans appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court seeking intervention as they simultaneously pursued a second-track legal front.
Kavanaugh, who oversees Missouri federal courts, declined Republicans' emergency appeal in one case on Wednesday without explanation. Moments later Judge Clark issued his ruling in a separate case, which acknowledged Kavanaugh's decision.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway on Tuesday evening indicated the state will be ready to use the newer 2025 map after Clark's ruling.
"Missouri is prepared to follow and comply with Chief Judge Clark's order that binds the state to using the [2025] Missouri FIRST map for the November General Election. We maintain that changing the congressional map in between the primary and general elections is simply not feasible and profoundly unjust to Missouri voters," she posted on X.