USA09 September, 20263 min read
Federal Judge Stephen Clark Blocks Missouri From Using Old House Map for November Election
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Federal Judge Stephen R. Clark temporarily blocked Missouri from using old congressional map for November. The decision came after the Supreme Court declined to intervene in the case.
Missouri map court clash
A federal judge in Missouri temporarily blocked the state from using its old congressional districts in the November election after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to get involved in the legal battle over redistricting.
The dispute followed the Missouri Supreme Court’s ruling that the state could not use a new U.S. House map backed by President Donald Trump for the November election because citizens turned in thousands of petition signatures demanding a statewide vote on it.
Moments later, U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark issued a temporary restraining order requiring Missouri to use the new districts backed by Republicans, and Clark’s order remains in place for 14 days while additional court proceedings play out.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said the state “is prepared to follow and comply with” Clark’s order, which she said “binds the state to using” the new congressional districts.
Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins called the federal order a victory that “halts a full-on constitutional crisis,” while People Not Politicians’ attorney Chuck Hatfield argued that “An individual federal judge cannot overrule the Missouri Supreme Court.”
Reactions and competing orders
In Missouri, the dueling court actions intensified uncertainty about which map would govern the November election after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up an appeal from Hanaway and left in place the Missouri Supreme Court injunction.
The Missouri Supreme Court had already ruled that the new districts never became law because the referendum petition signatures were submitted in December and thus “never became law,” and Hoskins assigned the referendum as Proposition A on the November ballot in compliance with that ruling.
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe thanked Clark for his decision, saying on X, “We are grateful for Chief Judge Clark’s decision to provide much-needed clarity for Missouri voters and the election process,” and he added that “the Missouri First Map will be used in the general election.”
People Not Politicians officials told KCTV that they had filed an emergency application seeking an order holding Hoskins and Hanaway in contempt, arguing that the Secretary’s direction to local election authorities to use HB 1 was “a direct violation of this court’s injunction.”
In a separate federal case, KCTV reported that Clark’s temporary block came after Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh declined an emergency stay, leaving the Missouri Supreme Court’s injunction in place and prompting Clark to issue the restraining order.
What’s at stake next
The next phase of the dispute hinges on whether Missouri can keep using the 2025 districts after the primary while the referendum proceeds, with Clark warning that switching maps for the general election would create “wreak havoc on the fairness and orderliness of Missouri’s congressional elections.”
Clark’s order also cited the risk of “Widespread voter confusion,” and the federal judge’s temporary relief is designed to keep the map used in the August primary in place while the Eighth Circuit considers appeals.
The Missouri Supreme Court’s earlier ruling set the referendum on the November ballot as Proposition A, and the NBC News account said the court ordered that Hoskins and those acting with him “are restrained and enjoined from implementing, using, or mandating the use of the congressional redistricting in HB 1 for the November 2026 general election.”
NBC News also reported that the decision meant Rep. Emanuel Cleaver would seek re-election for his old seat, and it noted that Cleaver won by almost 24 percentage points in 2024.
For the state’s election machinery, the stakes include deadlines and logistics, including a federal law deadline to begin mailing absentee ballots to overseas citizens and military members by Sept. 19, while Missouri’s Tuesday deadline to change candidates or issues on the November ballot could still leave the question of which ballots voters receive unresolved.