The fight to use Missouri’s new Congressional map in the November election took a couple of bizarre turns on Tuesday.
What We Know: On Tuesday, U-S Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh rejected an emergency bid to block the Missouri Supreme Court’s ruling that the state has to use maps from the 2022 election in November.
What Complicated the Matter: Minutes after the nation’s high court declined to intervene, Chief U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark issued a temporary restraining order, effective for 14 days, blocking Secretary of State Denny Hoskins from using any Congressional map other than the one drawn during the 2025 special session. Had Clark not intervened, Kavanaugh’s denial would have left the state court order in place and Missouri on course to use the 2022 map for the November election. ‘
The Missouri Supreme Court’s Late-Night Order: The state’s high court then ordered Secretary Hoskins to appear in person on Thursday and explain why he should not be held in contempt for directing election officials to use a map the court has barred him from using. The court gave Hoskins until noon Wednesday to answer a motion for contempt from People Not Politicians, a political action committee that forced a referendum on the new map.
What Happens Next? This remains unclear. Attorney General Catherine Hanaway issued a news release Tuesday saying the state would comply with Judge Clark’s order. Chuck Hatfield, the attorney for People Not Politicians, says local election authorities have a valid order from the Missouri Supreme Court telling them to use one map, but they also have a valid order from a federal judge telling them not to use any map except the one the state’s high court said they should not use. “They need to talk to their lawyers about that,” Hatfield said.