# Missouri Supreme Court Throws Out Trump-Led Redistricting
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-supreme-court-throws-out-trump-led-redistricting/1032811
**Category:** Politics & Elections
**Tags:** trump
**Created:** [September 4, 2026, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-supreme-court-throws-out-trump-led-redistricting/1032811 "2026-09-04T02:36:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2026, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-supreme-court-throws-out-trump-led-redistricting/1032811/1 "2026-09-04T02:36:47Z")
In a unanimous vote the Missouri state Supreme Court overturned the Secretary of State’s refusal to allow citizens to vote on the Republican mid-term gerrymandering and ordered the state to go back to the original Congressional districts.
The Republican redistricting had carved up the heavily Democratic Kansas City area into four districts which snaked out into Republican-dominated rural areas.
In what appears to be a stinging rebuke, the Court declared that a) Missouri’s constitutional referendum laws include the right to challenge any law passed by the Legislature, including redistricting, b) Secretary of State Denny Hoskins had overstepped his authority by refusing to certify the voter petitions for a referendum and c) had deliberately stalled his decision on certification in an attempt to run out the clock on the appeals process.
The Missouri Supreme Court is NOT known for being a bastion for pointy-headed liberals, with all seven justices appointed by Republican governors and all having won retention votes from the state’s voters.
[https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article317119404.html](https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article317119404.html)
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### Author:  [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2026, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-supreme-court-throws-out-trump-led-redistricting/1032811/2 "2026-09-04T02:42:07Z")
Wow. This is… a surprise, and a welcome one. Thank you so much for sharing the story!
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### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2026, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-supreme-court-throws-out-trump-led-redistricting/1032811/3 "2026-09-04T03:05:29Z")
Is the thread title correct or did the MO Supreme Court merely approve a referendum that would allow voters to decide the matter? In California, we approved gerrymandering by referendum. Is there any indication Missourians won’t do the same by voting against invalidating the GOP plan?
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### Author:  [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2026, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-supreme-court-throws-out-trump-led-redistricting/1032811/4 "2026-09-04T03:33:10Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#):
>
> Is there any indication Missourians won’t do the same by voting against invalidating the GOP plan?
Missouri has a long history of voting for good governance measures by ballot referendum that are then gutted or overturned by the legislature.
Also, even if the Missouri voters ultimately approve the new map (which I am not convinced they will), they will not be in use this November. Small victories.
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### Author:  [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2026, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-supreme-court-throws-out-trump-led-redistricting/1032811/5 "2026-09-04T03:37:28Z")
There is the added difficulty of the fact that the primary elections for all of these House races have already concluded using the new map (the ones declared invalid).
It’s unclear what the remedy for that is, and the MO AG is apparently petitioning SCOTUS to force Missouri to use the new maps in November.
Of course the entire reason the new maps were used for the primary is that the MO SecState unilaterally violated the state constitution (according to the MO Supreme Court) in declaring the petition challenging the new maps invalid.
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### Author:  [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2026, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-supreme-court-throws-out-trump-led-redistricting/1032811/6 "2026-09-04T13:08:44Z")
> [@Jas09](#):
>
> the MO SecState unilaterally violated the state constitution (according to the MO Supreme Court) in declaring the petition challenging the new maps invalid.
The petition, with over 300,000 signatures, was filed in December. SecState Denny Hoskins waited until primary day in August to declare it invalid.
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### Author:  [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2026, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-supreme-court-throws-out-trump-led-redistricting/1032811/7 "2026-09-04T13:53:19Z")
A fact which the MO Supreme Court made sure to highlight.
The tactic of “wait until the last possible second to something illegal because then it will be too messy to undo it” cannot be allowed to stand, and I have some hope that SCOTUS will agree with that.
Unfortunately, the way the referendum is stated makes it reasonably likely it will pass, IMO. Missouri is still a very red state. But it at least buys some time until 2028.
Perhaps more blue states can help offset what MO and the deep-south state are likely to do regarding districts. And ultimately if enough states go full-on gerrymander surely there will be some political will to fix it at the federal level, right? I don’t think anybody really wants a situation where every state has a 90/10 mix of reps depending on which party controls the state government.
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### Author:  [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2026, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-supreme-court-throws-out-trump-led-redistricting/1032811/8 "2026-09-04T18:04:52Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#):
>
> Wow. This is… a surprise, and a welcome one.
[ ](https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/a-surprise-to-be-sure-but-a-welcome-one-when-55157418.png)
This is how democracy survives 👏
(Movie quote aside this seems like a relatively minor victory, but still, any news is good news)
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### Author:  [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2026, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-supreme-court-throws-out-trump-led-redistricting/1032811/9 "2026-09-04T18:57:56Z")
Good news is so scarce, I can’t afford to disregard any of it. I’ll take whatever I can get.
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2026, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-supreme-court-throws-out-trump-led-redistricting/1032811/10 "2026-09-04T21:30:01Z")
> [@Babale](#):
>
> this seems like a relatively minor victory, but still, any news is good news
No, this is a BIG victory. Missouri has had a referendum option as a check on the Legislature since 1916. This isn’t the first time the Executive or Legislative branch has tried to do an end-run around it, but it’s the first time I can remember that the state Supreme Court (all of which, as I noted, were appointed by Republican governors) has slapped back so hard. Second, they not only declared the Secretary of State overreached his authority, but they ordered that the November Congressional election be held using the pre-2025 maps, and left no wiggle room around it. And finally, the Court also ruled, also unanimously, that a proposed Constitutional amendment forbidding the Legislature from ever restricting a citizen initiative and requiring a supermajority (80 percent) of the Legislature to repeal any law authorized by an initiative, must also appear on the ballot in November.
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### Author:  [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2026, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-supreme-court-throws-out-trump-led-redistricting/1032811/11 "2026-09-05T00:35:48Z")
[I hope they’re not busy.](https://www.kcur.org/podcast/up-to-date/2026-09-04/missouri-congressional-map-us-supreme-court-appeal)
> Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway has said she will soon challenge the decision by filing an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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### Author:  [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2026, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-supreme-court-throws-out-trump-led-redistricting/1032811/12 "2026-09-05T00:46:13Z")
but from the opinions I read in the P-D, the SCOTUS may not have jurisdiction over state constitutions, which is what the MO Supreme Court based its ruling on
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2026, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-supreme-court-throws-out-trump-led-redistricting/1032811/13 "2026-09-05T00:59:02Z")
> [@Jas09](#):
>
> Also, even if the Missouri voters ultimately approve the new map (which I am not convinced they will), they will not be in use this November. Small victories.
In part, presumably, because of the very delays the Republican Secretary of State was responsible for.
> [@fedman1](#):
>
> but from the opinions I read in the P-D, the SCOTUS may not have jurisdiction over state constitutions, which is what the MO Supreme Court based its ruling on
The SCOTUS doesn’t have any jurisdiction over state law, but they can rule that a state law (even a state constitution) violates some precept of the federal constitution.
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### Author:  [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2026, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-supreme-court-throws-out-trump-led-redistricting/1032811/14 "2026-09-05T00:59:31Z")
Not for nothing, Missouri loves doing end-arounds on its citizen-led ballot initiatives. Off the top of my head I can think of:
1. A $15 minimum wage, which went to the SCOMO and was upheld. But they just wrote a bunch of laws that basically nullified the amendment.
2. Legalizing abortion rights, which they’ve tried to indirectly undo it through one amendment (which didn’t address the abortion thing directly, but would have made it signficantly harder for citizens to get iniatives on the ballot in the future; no doubt our conservative legislature was quite stung when we voted for abortion); and they’re trying to undo again through another proposition in November.
3. Legalizing medicinal,then recreational cannabis. Oh, wait. They’re living this one alone. For now.
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2026, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-supreme-court-throws-out-trump-led-redistricting/1032811/15 "2026-09-05T02:00:07Z")
Don’t forget in 1999 the voters defeated a Proposition to loosen concealed carry gun laws. When the Republicans got their veto-proof legislative supermajority in 2003 they undid just about every law on the books that even mentioned guns.
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### Author:  [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2026, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-supreme-court-throws-out-trump-led-redistricting/1032811/16 "2026-09-05T18:32:41Z")
And the puppy mill laws in 2010. Overturned almost immediately by the legislature.
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### Author:  [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2026, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-supreme-court-throws-out-trump-led-redistricting/1032811/17 "2026-09-05T21:21:57Z")
> [@Jas09](#):
>
> The tactic of “wait until the last possible second to something illegal because then it will be too messy to undo it” cannot be allowed to stand, and I have some hope that SCOTUS will agree with that.
Dream on. Roberts says SCOTUS just calls balls and strikes. True enough; balls against Republicans and strikes against Democrats.
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### Author:  [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2026, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-supreme-court-throws-out-trump-led-redistricting/1032811/18 "2026-09-06T00:57:04Z")
an update from the P-D cites previous SCOTUS ruling on this
The U.S. Supreme Court also has made it clear that in most cases, state election laws cannot be challenged in federal courts.
The high court ruled in 2018, in a case called **[Rucho v. Common Cause](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/18pdf/18-422_9ol1.pdf)**, that federal courts do not have the power to police partisan gerrymanders under the U.S. Constitution, leaving state courts and state constitutions as the only possible route forward unless Congress were to intervene.
we shall see, since precedence is irrelevant to this court
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2026, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-supreme-court-throws-out-trump-led-redistricting/1032811/19 "2026-09-07T10:31:49Z")
They already have new precedence:
> **[In major Voting Rights Act case, Supreme Court strikes down redistricting map...](https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/04/in-major-voting-rights-act-case-supreme-court-strikes-down-redistricting-map-challenged-as-racia/)**
>
> The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a Louisiana congressional map that a group of voters who describe themselves as “non-African American” had challenged as the product of unconstitutional rac…
(Court strikes down Alabama map)
> **[Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_v._South_Carolina_State_Conference_of_the_NAACP)**
>
> Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, 602 U.S. 1 (2024), was a United States Supreme Court case regarding racial gerrymandering and partisan gerrymandering within South Carolina's 1st congressional district, which includes most of Charleston. Redistricting maps were drawn by the Republican-led legislature purportedly to increase Republican representation within the district, but had the impact of moving African-American voters out of the district. The local chapter of the N...
(Court upholds SC map)
Looks like SCOTUS does have the power to police partisan gerrymanders, as long as they support Republicans.
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### Author:  [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2026, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-supreme-court-throws-out-trump-led-redistricting/1032811/20 "2026-09-08T22:18:41Z")
Kavanaugh rejected the appeal from the MO GOP. Now the state has to figure out how to produce ballots using the 2024 maps after primaries that used the new maps.
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