A federal appeals panel on Sept. 21 sided with Republicans seeking to use Missouri’s 2025 congressional map in the Nov. 3 midterm elections, the same lines that were used in the Aug. 4 primaries.
The ruling does not necessarily mean the 2025 map, which gives Republicans a 7–1 advantage over Democrats, will appear on the ballot. County clerks have already begun sending military and overseas ballots under the 2022 map.
A Sept. 10 U.S. Supreme Court stay still blocks U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark’s temporary restraining order saying that the 2025 map could be used. When it was issued, the justices’ stay had the effect of keeping in place the 2022 map, which gives Republicans a 6–2 edge.
On Sept. 21, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed Clark. The panel ordered Clark to enter a permanent injunction barring Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins from using any congressional map other than the one the Legislature approved in 2025.
The panel administratively stayed that injunction until 5 p.m. Central Time on Sept. 28 to give the other side the opportunity to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Without a stay, Hoskins and local election authorities would be forced to immediately begin implementing the 2025 map before the Supreme Court decides any appeal, the panel said.
“This court holds that Missouri’s current plan to use the 2022 map in the November 2026 general election violates the [U.S.] Constitution,” the panel said. “Only use of the 2025 map complies with the Constitution and federal law.”
“The Constitution does not permit Missouri to use a different congressional district map in the November 2026 general election than it used in the August 2026 primary election,” the panel said.
The new decision is expected to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The three-judge panel of the St. Louis-based Eighth Circuit heard from attorneys on Sept. 17.
The judges and attorneys struggled to interpret the brief U.S. Supreme Court ruling that had the effect of keeping the 2022 map in place, but provided no helpful guidance to lower courts because no reasoning was provided.
U.S. Circuit Judge James Loken said that to him the ruling implied a sense of urgency.
“It’s on our plate, and I think the Supreme Court has said ‘get to it,’” he said during the hearing.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
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