Missouri judge allows Trump-backed House districts for November election

Court rejects referendum bid; secretary of state had earlier thrown out petition

A Cole County Circuit Court judge ruled Wednesday that Missouri can use new U.S. House districts backed by President Donald Trump in the November elections, rejecting a bid to put the Republican-friendly map to a statewide vote of the people.

The ruling by Judge Daniel Green is a victory for Republicans seeking to hold onto their slim majority in the U.S. House. The Associated Press, which reported the ruling, said the court’s decision is likely to be appealed.

The case reached the court after Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected a petition with thousands of signatures that sought to force a November referendum on the new congressional map. According to the AP, Hoskins asserted that Missouri’s Constitution does not allow a referendum on congressional redistricting. Green agreed with that position.

Missouri’s new districts already were used in the state’s August primaries, on the same day that Hoskins turned back the referendum petition. The August primary use of the map preceded Wednesday’s ruling, which now confirms the map’s place on the November ballot.

The case sits within a broader pattern of mid-decade redistricting efforts, with the AP’s reporting situating Missouri’s map among new U.S. House districts pushed by President Trump and Republican state lawmakers ahead of the midterm elections. Missouri’s map has been a focal point of that effort.

The slim House majority that Republicans are defending makes individual state maps consequential. The AP reported that the ruling is a victory for Republicans seeking to hold onto their slim majority in the U.S. House, underscoring the practical stakes of the litigation for both parties.

Green’s reasoning tracks Hoskins’s constitutional interpretation. According to the AP, the judge agreed with the secretary of state’s position that Missouri’s Constitution does not permit a referendum on congressional redistricting, leaving the petition effort without a path to the November ballot through the courts at this stage.

The AP reported that the court’s decision is likely to be appealed, indicating that the legal fight over the map is not concluded. The appeal pathway, if pursued, would extend the litigation beyond the November election.

Wednesday’s ruling leaves the Trump-backed map in place for the November elections unless an appellate court intervenes. The map’s use in the August primaries and its expected use in November give Republican candidates the districts that have been the subject of the dispute throughout the year.

The development adds another data point to the nationwide redistricting landscape ahead of the midterms, with the AP’s national reporting showing that states have moved in different directions on new U.S. House maps. Missouri’s outcome keeps its map in Republican hands through the November vote.