The Missouri Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously blocked newly enacted Republican-backed congressional districts from being used in November's midterm elections, ruling that voters must first approve the map in a statewide referendum.The ruling marks a rare setback for Republicans in a national redistricting battle.The GOP had aimed to use Missouri’s new congressional map to help them win an additional seat and hold onto their slim House majority.The court ruled that the referendum petition, filed in December after opponents submitted more than 300,000 signatures, prevented the new districts from taking effect unless approved by voters.
Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins waited until primary election day last month to reject the petition, arguing that the referendum process cannot be used for congressional redistricting.A lower court sided with Hoskins, but the state Supreme Court overturned his decision."The referendum petition was legal, sufficient, and timely, and the secretary incorrectly concluded otherwise," the court said in its ruling.
The measure with the new districts "did not go into effect and will not go into effect unless and until approved by the voters."DEMS DERIDED TRUMP'S MIDTERM GAMBLE — UNTIL HE ENDED UP WINNING BIGPeople opposing a congressional redistricting plan rally outside the Missouri Supreme Court while displaying the number of petition signatures submitted seeking a statewide vote on the measure.(AP Photo/David A.
Lieb)Now, the congressional map adopted after the 2020 census "remains in full force and effect for the November 2026 general election," the court said.Once considered a swing state, Missouri has dramatically shifted to the right over the past two decades.Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, a Republican, plans to immediately appeal the case to the U.S.Supreme Court."Never before in American history has a court overturned a congressional map after a primary and before a general election.
This unpreced...