A federal appeals court on Wednesday denied an emergency effort to stop Missouri from using its 2025 Republican-drawn congressional map in November, leaving a lower court’s temporary order in place as the redistricting battle continues.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday refused to block Missouri from using its 2025 Republican-drawn congressional map in the November general election, leaving intact a federal judge’s temporary order requiring the state to use the newer boundaries.
The three-judge panel denied a request for a stay pending appeal filed by Richard von Glahn and People Not Politicians, the group challenging the map. The court said it either lacked jurisdiction over the appeal or, based on the briefing received so far, the legal requirements for a stay had not been satisfied.
“The motion for a stay pending appeal is denied because we either lack jurisdiction over the appeal or, based on the briefing we have so far, the stay factors have not been met,” the court wrote.
The panel also denied a motion for summary reversal and dismissed a request for an administrative stay as moot. Judges James B. Loken, David R. Stras and Justin D. Smith comprised the panel. Loken was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, while Stras and Smith were appointed by President Donald Trump.
The decision means that, for now, a temporary restraining order issued Tuesday by Chief U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark remains in effect. Clark barred Missouri officials from using the state’s 2022 congressional map and required them to use the 2025 “Missouri FIRST” map for the Nov. 3 election. The order is scheduled to remain in effect for 14 days unless modified or replaced by further court action.
The challengers had sought emergency appellate intervention after Clark issued his order Tuesday afternoon, just minutes before a ballot-related deadline.
Clark’s ruling came shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court declined Missouri’s separate emergency request concerning the map. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who handles emergency applications from the Eighth Circuit, denied the state’s application without explanation. That request had asked the Supreme Court to stay a Missouri Supreme Court ruling that said the 2025 map could not take effect unless approved by voters in November.
The Missouri Supreme Court unanimously ruled Sept. 3 that a referendum petition challenging the new map was legal, sufficient and timely. The court concluded that the 2025 redistricting law never took effect and that the state’s 2022 congressional districts therefore remained legally operative unless voters approve the new plan in the November referendum.
Clark reached a different conclusion in the federal lawsuit, finding that switching district maps after Missouri had already conducted its August congressional primaries under the new boundaries would disrupt the election process and undermine votes already cast. The competing state and federal rulings have created an unusually complex dispute over which congressional boundaries govern the general election.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said the state would comply with Clark’s federal order.
“Missouri is prepared to follow and comply with Chief Judge Clark’s order that binds the state to using the Missouri FIRST map for the November General Election,” Hanaway said.
“We maintain that changing the congressional map in between the primary and general elections is simply not feasible and profoundly unjust to Missouri voters,” she added.
Republican lawmakers approved the new congressional boundaries last year in a 90-65 House vote. The plan substantially restructures the Kansas City-based 5th Congressional District held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver and was designed to give Republicans an opportunity to increase their delegation from six of Missouri’s eight House seats to seven. The Associated Press reported that the redistricting was part of a broader mid-decade effort encouraged by Trump.
Wednesday’s Eighth Circuit ruling does not resolve the underlying legality of Missouri’s congressional map. It leaves Clark’s temporary order in effect while the federal litigation continues, with the 2025 Republican-drawn map remaining the operative plan under that order for the November election unless another court intervenes.
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