In a ruling on Monday (September 21), a federal appeals court in the United States ordered the state of Missouri to use a new congressional map drawn by the Republican Party in the upcoming midterm elections in November, but also issued a one-week stay to allow the losing party time to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Missouri must adopt a new congressional redistricting plan for the mid-term elections in November, as the plan used in the state’s primary earlier this year would result in an inconsistency between the primary and general election districts if the old congressional map is used, thus violating the constitution.
This decision represents a major victory for the Republican Party. It means that the ratio of congressional districts where Republicans have an advantage over Democrats has shifted to 7 to 1, compared to 6 to 2 under the 2022 congressional map. This change in ratio is expected to help the Republican Party maintain control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the midterm elections.
However, the ruling will not take immediate effect. The federal appeals court has provided a one-week buffer period to allow the U.S. Supreme Court time to review any potential appeals filed by the losing party.
The appeals court panel wrote in the ruling, “If the Supreme Court has not granted a stay or otherwise altered the permanent injunction by then, Secretary of State Hawkins and all others bound by this decision must fully implement the 2025 map in the November 2026 election.”
The dispute over the redistricting plan in Missouri is highly complex. Missouri is a red state where Republicans have the advantage. In 2025, the state passed a new congressional map favoring the Republican Party, giving them a chance to gain an additional seat in the 2026 midterm elections. The map was implemented in the primary elections in August this year. On the day of the primary, Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected a petition with over 300,000 signatures seeking a referendum on the new congressional map, citing it as unconstitutional.
Subsequently, opponents filed lawsuits, and after losing in the initial trial, they appealed all the way to the state’s Supreme Court, which ruled to use the 2022 congressional district map.
Both sides then appealed to the federal courts. On September 8, U.S. Supreme Court conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh refused to hear the case, upholding the previous injunction issued by Missouri’s Supreme Court. However, shortly after, federal district judge Stephen Clark issued a temporary restraining order, prohibiting the state from using any alternative map in the November election.
On September 10, the U.S. Supreme Court granted an emergency request from opponents of the new congressional map, ordering a stay on Clark’s ruling and once again rejecting the state officials’ request to use the new map in the November election. This decision effectively upheld the previous ruling by Missouri’s Supreme Court to use the old map.
After the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Missouri officials’ appeal for a second time, the state officials filed an appeal in the appeals court. The ruling of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has once again shifted the victory temporarily to the side of the Republican Party.
It is expected that this case will soon be submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court for the third time.