Missouri Supreme Court orders Hoskins to contempt hearing over redistricting

State, federal courts split on which congressional map Missouri will use

The Missouri Supreme Court set the contempt hearing for 10 a.m. CDT Thursday. Hoskins and Gov. Mike Kehoe, also a Republican, said they will follow the maps as redrawn in September 2025 for November’s general election, citing a federal district judge’s order rather than the state Supreme Court’s.

In an overnight post on X, Hoskins wrote, “I look forward to my day in court,” citing the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution. He added: “The Show Me State will not be run into the ground like the communists running NYC on my watch.”

People Not Politicians, the organization that forced a referendum on the 2025 redraw of the state’s congressional districts, filed the contempt motion after Hoskins sent local election officials a copy of a conflicting federal order and told them it “takes precedence over the Missouri Supreme Court’s order.”

The dispute centers on a map the Missouri Supreme Court approved in May that made it difficult for a Democrat to win in Kansas City, part of a broader effort by Republican states, beginning in Texas, to shape House races ahead of November. The map was used in the state’s primaries last month, but the same court later blocked its use in the general election pending a referendum vote, ordering that the previous districts remain in place until voters weighed in.

On Aug. 19, District Judge Daniel Green ruled that the state’s referendum rules do not apply to congressional redistricting and that the 2025 map can stand. The ruling put Green at odds with the state high court, which had directed local officials to revert to the prior map.

Missouri then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who oversees emergency requests from Missouri, declined Tuesday evening to revive the state court’s order, allowing the state’s deadline to finalize the ballot to pass with the question unresolved.

Chief U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark in St. Louis entered a conflicting order saying the 2025 map can stay — a ruling that was immediately appealed and has not yet been returned.

People Not Politicians said it would also ask Kavanaugh to intervene. The contempt filing comes with the November election approaching, as state and federal courts assert competing authority over which districts Missouri voters will use.