Supreme Court Again Snubs Gop Gerrymander In Missouri

The Supreme Court has again blocked a Republican gerrymander from being used in Missouri in November’s midterms, rebuffing GOP attempts to pick up an extra House seat by redrawing the map to oust a Democratic lawmaker.

The justices on Friday overrode orders from lower federal courts that instructed state officials to use the new, GOP-friendly map, even though Missouri’s highest court ruled unanimously earlier this month that the new map could not be used this year.

“At this late date, ordering reversion to the 2025 map in the midst of an ongoing election would usher in electoral chaos,” the Supreme Court said in an unsigned ruling, with no member of the court signaling any disagreement with the result.

The justices acted with unusual unity for a politically-charged case, with no member of the court signaling any disagreement with the result.

The case’s return evoked a sense of déjà vu at the Supreme Court, which had already issued two rulings in recent weeks in favor of sticking with the map put in place in 2022. That map produced the current 6-2 split favoring Republicans over Democrats in Missouri’s House delegation.

People Not Politicians, the Democratic group leading the opposition to the GOP redistricting push, celebrated the decision as the conclusion to the lengthy legal fight.

“We are done with corrupt politicians trying to force their map into effect outside the process outlined in the Missouri constitution. We have said from the beginning, people, not politicians will be the final deciders on this DC power grab,” Executive Director Richard von Glahn said.

In last month’s primary elections, voters used a new map Missouri’s GOP-controlled legislature adopted as part of President Donald Trump’s nationwide push for Republican states to draw more favorable maps ahead of the midterms. Missouri Republicans’ proposed gerrymander carved up the Kansas City-area district currently held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver.

However, the Missouri Supreme Court earlier this month suspended the GOP gerrymander in a 7-0 decision and approved People Not Politicians’ petition to force the gerrymander to a referendum in November.

Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, a Republican, filed an emergency appeal of that ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who oversees matters arising in the 8th Circuit, which includes Missouri, turned down the appeal without comment in early September.

However, within minutes of Kavanaugh’s order, U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark, a Trump appointee, granted a restraining order two GOP candidates sought against using the older lines.

An 8th Circuit Court of Appeals panel denied redistricting opponents’ request for a stay, prompting another emergency Supreme Court appeal. Kavanaugh referred that to the full Supreme Court, which put Clark’s order on hold, effectively ordering a return to the more Democrat friendly 2022 map.

The 8th Circuit panel appeared to interpret the Supreme Court’s ruling not as a directive to stand down, but to quickly consider the legal merits of the case. On Monday, the appeals court directed Clark to issue a permanent injunction requiring use of the new GOP-friendly map, but suspended the order for a week to allow opponents to again take the issue to the Supreme Court. Clark quickly released such an order.

The Supreme Court decision Friday says both Clark and the 8th Circuit panel were wrong to interject themselves into a state’s decisions about district lines so close to an election.

While most high court decisions either uphold or reject a court’s past actions, the new ruling from the justices in the Missouri case includes an unusually blunt direction to those lower courts not to make further attempts to reinstate the new map for this year’s election.

The Court has repeatedly cautioned that lower federal courts “should not alter the election rules of a state on the eve of an election,” the high court’s ruling says, citing a longstanding if not occasionally murky rule known as the Purcell principle.

“The Purcell principle applies with even greater force here,” the court declared. “The election is not merely upcoming; it has already started. Ballots using the 2022 map have been printed and mailed. Absentee voting has already begun, as has military and overseas voting.”

The Supreme Court’s decision acknowledges concerns about a state switching district lines after a primary is held, but says Hoskins invited that situation by moving forward with the primary using the new lines after the Missouri Supreme Court indicated the referendum might void them.

The legal limbo has put a strain on Missouri election officials for months as they awaited the fate of the maps to be resolved in the courts. Several election officials told POLITICO they had been advising Missouri voters to consider delaying casting their votes until the Supreme Court resolved the fight over the map.