Supreme Court to hear Missouri redistricting case for third time

September 23, 2026 1:37pm EDT / Fox News

People Not Politicians filed the request Tuesday night after the Eighth Circuit ruled in favor of the 2025 map

By Anders Hagstrom, Fox News

Supreme Court rejects Republican effort to redistrict Missouri

Fox News correspondent Mark Meredith has the latest on the key storylines shaping the race to the 2026 midterm elections, including the political fallout from the Supreme Court’s Missouri redistricting decision, the battle for control of Congress, and the issues driving voters as both parties intensify their push toward November on ‘Special Report.’

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

blob:https://www.foxnews.com/2afacb12-1d37-448e-8784-c3c07adc408c

Listen to this article

3 min

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a Missouri redistricting case for a third time after Justice Brett Kavanaugh accepted a request to intervene in the case once again Tuesday night.

The divisive redistricting map drawn in 2025 would grant Republicans an additional seat in the House of Representatives if it is put in place ahead of the 2026 elections. A federal judge in Missouri ruled in favor of the 2025 map last month, but the Supreme Court put a stay on that ruling just two weeks ago.

Opponents of the map issued an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court late Tuesday night after the St. Louis-based Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the new map on Monday.

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT ORDERS MISSOURI TO USE CONGRESSIONAL MAP REJECTED TWICE BY SUPREME COURT

The maps show how Missouri’s congressional districts changed between 2022 and 2025, including the expansion of the Kansas City-area 5th District into more Republican-leaning rural parts of the state.(Missouri Office of Administration/Amanda Macias/Fox News Digital)

Kavanaugh handles emergency requests for the state of Missouri and directed supporters of the new map to respond to the appeal by Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET.

The development is the latest in a roller-coaster ride of legal decisions that have seen the new map fly up and down between federal and state courts, the Supreme Court and the Missouri Supreme Court.

ELECTION CHAOS IN THIS RED STATE JUST GOT EVEN STRANGER FOR REPUBLICANS AFTER SUPREME COURT RULING

The case began when Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected a petition for the 2025 map to be placed on the ballot for a vote in 2026. Instead, the new map was used to determine congressional districts for the state’s primary elections.

People gather at the Missouri statehouse in Jefferson City on Sept. 10, 2025, to protest changes to the state’s congressional district maps.(Tammy Ljungblad/Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

The Democratic group behind the petition, People Not Politicians, asked a state court to intervene, saying the group’s petition of 300,000 signatures should have triggered a referendum on the new map under Missouri’s constitution. The Missouri Supreme Court agreed, writing that the 2025 map cannot go into effect “unless and until approved by the voters at the November 2026 general election.”

MISSOURI HIGH COURT BLOCKS GOP-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL MAPS AHEAD OF MIDTERMS; TRUMP BLASTS ‘RIDICULOUS’ RULING

Hoskins then appealed the case to the Supreme Court, but Kavanaugh declined to hear his request on Sept. 4.

Meanwhile, Republican candidates who won primary elections based on the 2025 maps brought up a separate case in federal court, arguing that if the general election takes place under the 2022 map their districts would be very different from the primary maps. Many general election voters, they noted, would also be presented with options they had no role in voting for during the primaries.

SUPREME COURT AGAIN BLOCKS MISSOURI FROM USING TRUMP-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL MAPS

Missouri’s high court blocked the new redistricting map and ordered a statewide vote in November on whether to keep it.(AP Photo/David A. Lieb)

Eighth Circuit Judge Stephen R. Clark ruled in favor of those candidates and issued an order requiring that the 2025 maps be used in this year’s elections, effectively contradicting the state Supreme Court.

This time, People Not Politicians asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene, and Kavanaugh agreed. The court issued an unsigned order blocking Clark’s order until the Eighth Circuit issued a formal ruling in the case. The Eighth Circuit then fast-tracked the case and ruled in favor of the 2025 map.

MISSOURI SUPREME COURT THREATENS SECRETARY OF STATE WITH CONTEMPT AMID INTENSIFYING REDISTRICTING BATTLE

People Not Politicians filed their latest request for an intervention on Tuesday night, arguing that the court’s ruling against the new map was still in effect, and pointing to statements from Missouri election officials saying it is too late to change what maps are used in the upcoming elections.

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh speaks at his Senate confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill, Sept. 27, 2018.(Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images)

The Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities already announced it will not be using the 2025 map for November, arguing in an appeal filing that the state does not have enough time to provide new ballots.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“Ballots have been printed, and Missourians have already voted. Thousands more will vote before this order seeks to take effect. Officials should stop wasting taxpayers’ money on pointless legal action and instead focus on administering our elections,” People Not Politicians director Richard von Glahn said in a statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events.