The Missouri Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state cannot use a congressional map that state Republicans designed to give the GOP an additional congressional seat this fall, a decision that helps Democrats in their quest to flip the House.
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The court in its unanimous ruling also approved putting a referendum on the November ballot that will allow voters to decide whether to use the GOP-favored map in future elections.
Republicans were dealt another setback halfway across the country Thursday when the Maryland Supreme Court agreed to place a redistricting referendum on the November ballot, an initiative designed to eventually eliminate the state’s lone GOP-held House seat.
The Missouri ruling will probably keep one seat in the Democrats’ column as Republicans fight to hang onto a razor-thin majority. The Maryland ruling would pay dividends for Democrats in 2028 if voters sign off on their plan.
The Missouri decision prompts major questions for voters and election officials. State officials used the map favored by Republicans for last month’s primary even though courts had told them it could be in legal jeopardy. Now, the state is confronted with a conundrum: Party nominees were chosen under one set of congressional lines, but candidates will run under different ones in November.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway (R) said she would appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, but she faces a difficult timeline. Ballots must be set by Tuesday under state law, and they will be mailed to voters soon.
“This unprecedented decision clearly violates federal law and has thrust our state into a full‑fledged constitutional crisis,” Hanaway said in a social media post.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) called the decision a victory for voters “and a clear message to MAGA extremists trying to rig the midterm elections.”
President Donald Trump said the map favoring Republicans should be put back in place. “This is a Dark Day for ‘Justice’ in Missouri!” he wrote on social media.
Republican state lawmakers last year redrew Missouri’s congressional map at the behest of Trump to give themselves an advantage in an additional House district. The plan was meant to ensure that Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, one of two Democrats in the state’s eight-member House delegation, would not be reelected.
The anti-gerrymandering group People Not Politicians submitted more than 300,000 signatures to place a measure on the ballot that would block the map until voters could decide whether they want to use it.
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Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins (R) rejected their petitions, saying the state constitution didn’t allow ballot measures related to congressional redistricting.
Richard von Glahn, the leader of People Not Politicians, sued. A county judge ruled against him last month, but the state Supreme Court sided with him Thursday.
The court found the new map had never gone into effect because the group had filed enough petitions to force a referendum on it. Citizens’ right to call for a referendum on laws passed by the state legislature “is an essential part of the state’s lawmaking process under the Missouri Constitution,” state Supreme Court Judge Ginger K. Gooch wrote for the majority.
In a footnote, the court took issue with the secretary of state for telling the court about the confusion, expenses and logistical problems that would emerge if the court ruled against him.
“These arguments are particularly misplaced given the secretary’s delay created the confusion, expense, and practical difficulties of which he complains,” Gooch wrote for the court.
Hoskins, the secretary of state, released a statement vowing to protect the new map.
“We may have lost the battle today, but the war to preserve our constitutional republic is far from over,” Hoskins said in a statement.
In Maryland, Republican state lawmakers asked courts to block Democrats’ redistricting measure from the November ballot, arguing on technicalities that the Democratic supermajority in Annapolis crafted the proposed state constitutional amendment too late and wrote the ballot question in a misleading way.
The state Supreme Court disagreed about the timeliness but ruled the referendum should proceed with different language.
The ruling was a victory for Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D), who has spent nearly a year persuading Democrats to help him redraw the state’s map to offset Republican-redrawn maps in other states.
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Erin Cox contributed to this report.
