Conflicting orders from the Missouri Supreme Court and a federal judge have left the state’s congressional map in limbo with uncertain timing on when the issue will be resolved.
One thing is certain: Voters will see a referendum on the new congressional map passed in 2025 on their November ballots, and they can decide if they approve.
“The question is, ‘What district are they going to be voting in when they vote in November?’” asked Jayne Woods, an associate law professor at the University of Missouri. “That, I don’t think, has been answered yet.”
Others who study state law agree.
“It’s likely still to be a bumpy ride as we sort out all of these issues,” Dave Roland, senior legal advisor for the Freedom Center of Missouri, told KOMU 8.
“I think it’s very difficult to read where we’re going to go legally with this because I think there are really valid arguments on either side,” said Scott LaCombe, assistant professor in the Truman School of Government and Public Affairs.
The dispute dates back to September 2025, when the Missouri General Assembly passed House Bill 1 to redraw the state’s congressional districts in hopes of adding an additional Republican-leaning district.
Opponents of the new map launched an effort to put it before voters through a referendum. More than 300,000 signatures were collected and submitted to Secretary of State Denny Hoskins in December 2025.
Hoskins rejected the referendum on the last day possible, Aug. 4. This was the same day Missouri held its primary election using the HB 1 districts.
The Missouri Supreme Court ruled Sept. 3 that the state’s new congressional map was never legal because a referendum petition challenging it was legal, sufficient and timely. The court ordered the state to use its preexisting 2022 congressional districts in November.
“This has been a moment of, like, crisis that people following this have been seeing for the last nine months that the court has repeatedly said if we get enough signatures, we are going to go back to these 2022 maps,” LaCombe said. “Hoskins used the full amount of time that he was legally allowed to make that decision.”
Following the state Supreme Court ruling, Hoskins asked the U.S. Supreme Court to temporarily block the state court’s decision. Justice Brett Kavanaugh denied that request Tuesday, seemingly leaving the Missouri Supreme Court’s order in place.
But shortly afterward, a federal judge in St. Louis ordered the opposite. U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark issued a temporary restraining order preventing Missouri from using any congressional map other than the new HB 1 districts in November.
Clark was ruling in a suit brought by two candidates for Congress — U.S. Rep. Bob Onder, R-St. Charles, and state Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville — arguing that federal voting rights would be violated if different maps were used for the primary and the general election. The judge’s ruling is temporary — holding things in place for 14 days.
The result is two court orders pointing Missouri election officials in different directions. The Missouri Supreme Court has prohibited Hoskins from using HB 1, while the federal district court has prohibited him from using anything other than HB 1.
Woods said the two courts reached their decisions by considering different legal questions. Roland and LaCombe agreed. The Missouri Supreme Court’s decision focused on Missouri law, while Clark considered the federal constitutional implications of switching maps between the primary and general election.
“It’s almost like two ships passing in the night,” Woods said. “We got the federal court ruling on federal constitutional law, state court ruling on state constitutional law.”
There is no simple answer for which court’s order should take precedence, Woods said.
Federal courts take precedence in many legal conflicts because of the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause, she said. But federal courts also generally try to avoid interfering with state law matters under principles of federalism.
Hoskins, responding to the federal court, told county clerks across the state that the new gerrymandered maps will be used instead of the preexisting maps, going directly against the state Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court decision not to get involved.
State law set 5 p.m. Tuesday as the deadline to finalize the state ballot. But Roland said he thinks that is not so firm.
“The Missouri Supreme Court seemed to indicate that they did not see that as a hard and fast limit as far as changes that can be made … in practice, there may be some flexibility, and we’ll just have to see exactly how it plays out,” he said.
Hoskins is set to appear before the state’s highest court Thursday over whether he violated its order. That’s if a federal district court doesn’t agree with his plea to block the state Supreme Court from punishing him.
Taking to the social media website, X, Hoskins stated, “I look forward to my day in court.”
Meanwhile, the federal ruling requiring Missouri to use the new map was appealed by the People Not Politicians organization that originally challenged the new map in 2025. While that appeal was rejected, the group appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court later Wednesday.
“I do think that whatever final decision comes down, likely out of the federal courts, that’s probably going to determine how the ballot is structured in November in Missouri,” Roland said.
LaCombe said the controversy could potentially provide an opportunity to adjust the timing on when the petition initiatives in the future would be certified. Rather than having ballot initiatives decided on the primary election date, it would be wise having a buffer period for the secretary of state to decide whether or not to certify signatures, he said.
Until then, the legal fight leaves Missouri voters waiting to find out which congressional districts will ultimately be used in November.