What’s Going On With Missouri’s Congressional Map?

At this point, I have no idea what is going on with Missouri’s midterm elections. Somehow, Missouri’s congressional map is before the Supreme Court for a third time. 

Before we get into this new development, I should probably give you some context on how we got here. 

So last year, President Donald Trump seemed to know off rip how unpopular his agenda would be with the average voter. Trump convinced Texas to initiate a mid-decade redistricting effort only six months into his second term. Texas obliged, triggering a year-long redistricting battle across several states. 

Missouri was one of the first Republican states to follow in Texas’ footsteps, triggering a redistricting effort that split up the Kansas City area into two districts in an attempt to create an extra House seat for Republicans. Missouri residents are increasingly fed up with their state legislature and its attempts to go against the will of the people. 

Missouri is one of the only states that voted to reverse a trigger ban on abortions after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. In response, the Missouri state legislature kept implementing absurd restrictions that basically banned abortion through technicalities. The straw that really broke the camel’s back was the state legislature’s decision to veto a voter-approved law that would’ve made sick leave mandatory. 

Fed up with the state legislature, supporters created a ballot initiative to put the redistricting effort to a vote. Should the initiative have gained enough signatures, the map would have to be placed on the ballot instead of being implemented during the midterms. Missouri’s Secretary of State Denny Hoskins more or less said he was going to take his sweet time counting the signatures to effectively deny the will of the people once again. 

That probably wasn’t the smartest move, as lawsuits were filed against Hoskins and the state of Missouri over the redistricting effort. A judge initially ruled in August that Missouri could use the newly redrawn map during the midterm elections. People No Politicians, the group that filed the lawsuit, appealed the ruling all the way up to the Supreme Court. 

In one of the more surprising developments of the ongoing redistricting battle, the Supreme Court issued an emergency ruling that Missouri has to use its old map for the upcoming midterms. 

This put Missouri in the unusual position of having to conduct the midterms using a different map than the one it used in the primaries. 

Which brings us to AP reporting that the map is before the Supreme Court yet again. Usually, when the Supreme Court issues a ruling, that’s the end of it. Yet, unusually, a federal appeals court issued a last-minute ruling ordering the state to revert to the new map that favors Republicans. The Supreme Court gave the supporters of the new map until midday Wednesday to respond to the latest appeal. 

One has to imagine the Supreme Court will issue a ruling quickly, since absentee voting under the old map has already begun. Given that the Supreme Court issued its initial ruling less than two weeks ago, I don’t know what has changed to get them to reverse course. 

Granted, this Supreme Court has made many decisions that don’t make sense, so who knows what’s going to happen. I truly love that we’re doing this just over a month ahead of the midterms. That just feels great, y’all.

SEE ALSO:

Redistricting Efforts Have Placed 1 In 10 Americans In New Districts

Supreme Court Strikes Down Missouri’s Redistricting Effort [Op-Ed]

Missouri Legislature Passes Gerrymandered Congressional Map