Missouri AG Seeks Emergency Supreme Court Stay on Map Ruling

Attorney General Catherine Hanaway is appealing the Missouri Supreme Court's redistricting referendum order to the US Supreme Court within 72 hours.

Speaking to Spectrum News, she said she expects movement at the high court within roughly 72 hours and predicted the justices might allow the referendum on the ballot while directing that the 2025 maps be used for the election. Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, separately, told St. Louis Public Radio he will comply with the state court's order while pursuing an appeal, saying he is 'utilizing … our legal process, our judicial process.'

According to Spectrum News, Hanaway argues the ruling creates a 'mass confusion' burden on voters and election clerks, because primary voters chose candidates under districts that will not exist on the November ballot. 'Can you imagine how confused you're going to be if you're a voter, you voted for somebody, they won the primary, and you show up at the ballot box on the general election, and their name's not even on the ballot?' she said. Republican state Sen. Rick Brattin, whose district was redrawn, told KMBC he plans legal action, saying tens of thousands of primary voters will face new candidates in November.

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the referendum petition was 'legal, sufficient and timely' and that Secretary of State Hoskins incorrectly declared it insufficient, KMBC reports. The court ordered Hoskins to issue a certificate of sufficiency and place the referendum on the November 2026 ballot before a September 8 deadline. St. Louis Public Radio reports that Judge Ginger Gooch, a Parson appointee, wrote in a scathing footnote that Hoskins' own delay 'created the confusion, expense, and practical difficulties of which he complains.' Hoskins responded that he 'followed every Missouri state law as well as the Missouri Constitution.'

The map fight carries national consequences. St. Louis Public Radio describes the referendum as a significant win for national Democrats pushing back against a Donald Trump-backed effort to redraw Republican-leaning seats to protect the GOP's House majority. The 2025 map would have shifted Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver's Kansas City-area district toward Republican control; Cleaver told KMBC the ruling was a victory for Missouri residents, while noting the stakes extend beyond one seat. Opponents of the map had also argued its mid-decade timing made it unconstitutional, though the state Supreme Court rejected that claim, KMBC reports.

Hanaway is leaning on federalism and timing arguments for the emergency application. According to Spectrum News, opponents do not expect the US Supreme Court to take the case, in part because the high court has already ruled that referendums can apply to redistricting, and any review would likely run past the September 8 ballot deadline. St. Louis Public Radio reports Hoskins is invoking the Purcell Principle, which discourages changing election rules close to an election, though that doctrine has historically applied to court decisions altering election laws rather than state referendum processes. Referendum backers say the case belongs entirely in state court.

Election officials are preparing for the September 8 deadline either way. Spectrum News reports the Jackson County Election Board's directors said they will be ready to use the old congressional map on the general election ballot after Tuesday's deadline. Hanaway told KMBC her office would accept the 2022 map if the Supreme Court denies a stay, 'after we've exhausted all our appeals,' though she suspects new lawsuits from winning primary candidates. Hoskins vowed to keep fighting, St. Louis Public Radio reports, while People Not Politicians says Missourians are ready to vote down the 2025 map as Proposition A in November.