Secretary of State Denny Hoskins Directs Missouri Election Officials to Use 2022 Congressional Map

Missouri Congressional Map Fight: 24 Hours of Conflicting Court Orders, a Contempt Hearing and a U.S. Supreme Court Decision

Missouri’s congressional redistricting battle moved through three levels of the federal court system and into a contempt hearing before the Missouri Supreme Court over the past 24 hours, before the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in Thursday morning and cleared the way for the state to return to its 2022 congressional districts.

Secretary of State Denny Hoskins has now directed local election authorities to use the 2022 congressional map for the November 3 general election.

The Missouri Supreme Court has not yet announced whether Hoskins will be held in contempt for his actions during the rapidly changing legal battle.

Where Things Stood Wednesday

The dispute began with the Missouri Supreme Court’s unanimous September 3 ruling that a referendum petition challenging Missouri’s 2025 congressional redistricting plan was legal, sufficient and timely.

The court determined that the referendum suspended the 2025 map before it took effect and ordered the state to conduct the November election using the congressional districts adopted in 2022. The referendum over the 2025 map will appear before voters in November as Proposition A.

But Tuesday brought a conflicting order from Chief U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark.

In a separate federal lawsuit brought by Republican candidates and voters, Clark issued a 14-day temporary restraining order prohibiting Missouri from using any congressional map other than the 2025 map.

Clark reasoned that Missouri had already conducted its August primary under the 2025 districts and that changing those districts before the general election could raise federal constitutional concerns for voters who would potentially find themselves voting in races involving candidates they had no opportunity to help nominate.

Following Clark’s order, Hoskins instructed local election authorities to proceed with the 2025 congressional districts.

That put him directly at odds with the Missouri Supreme Court.

Missouri Supreme Court Summons Hoskins

The Missouri Supreme Court responded by ordering Hoskins to explain why he should not be held in contempt.

The court specifically questioned why Hoskins’ September 8 email instructing election officials to use the 2025 HB 1 map was not an affirmative violation of its September 3 injunction.

The court also asked why Hoskins should not simply take no action concerning the congressional map while the conflicting litigation was being resolved.

Hoskins was ordered to personally appear before the court Thursday morning.

Meanwhile, People Not Politicians appealed Clark’s federal order to the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

On Wednesday, the Eighth Circuit declined to stay Clark’s temporary restraining order.

That left Missouri in the extraordinary position of having a state Supreme Court order prohibiting use of the 2025 map while a federal district court order prohibited the state from using anything else.

Hoskins Tries to Stop His Own Contempt Hearing

Wednesday afternoon brought another twist.

Hoskins asked Judge Clark to block the Missouri Supreme Court from holding its contempt hearing, arguing that he should not face punishment from the state court for complying with the federal court’s order.

Clark declined to stop the hearing.

That meant Hoskins still had to personally appear before the Missouri Supreme Court Thursday morning.

At the same time, People Not Politicians took its challenge to Clark’s federal order to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Thursday Morning: Hoskins Appears Before Missouri Supreme Court

Hoskins appeared before the Missouri Supreme Court Thursday morning as ordered.

The justices repeatedly questioned an attorney representing Hoskins about whether the Secretary of State would issue new instructions Thursday directing local election authorities to use the 2022 congressional districts.

Chief Justice W. Brent Powell summed up the urgency facing the state during the hearing.

“We’re in a precarious situation,” Powell said.

Hoskins sat in the front row during the proceedings but did not address reporters afterward.

The Missouri Supreme Court did not immediately rule on whether Hoskins should be held in contempt, but the court urged him not to travel too far from Jefferson City as it considered what to do next.

Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.

U.S. Supreme Court Blocks Federal Order

Thursday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court granted an emergency request from People Not Politicians and its executive director Richard von Glahn to stay Clark’s federal temporary restraining order.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who handles emergency matters arising from the Eighth Circuit, referred the application to the full court.

The Supreme Court issued a brief, unsigned order granting the stay. The order did not explain the justices’ reasoning, and no justice publicly dissented.

The decision removed the federal order requiring Missouri to use the 2025 map and restored the practical effect of the Missouri Supreme Court’s September 3 decision.

For the second time this week, the nation’s highest court had declined to clear the way for the 2025 map.

Earlier in the week, Kavanaugh had rejected Missouri officials’ emergency attempt to stay the Missouri Supreme Court ruling. Thursday’s action addressed the separate federal order issued by Clark.

Hoskins Reverses Course

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision, Hoskins changed his instructions to Missouri election officials.

Hoskins acknowledged the ruling and announced that his office was directing local election authorities to use the 2022 congressional map.

That is significant because it was exactly the action Missouri Supreme Court justices had repeatedly pressed Hoskins’ attorney about during Thursday morning’s contempt hearing.

For election officials, the immediate question of which congressional districts to prepare for November now appears much clearer.

The state is proceeding with the 2022 map.

An Unusual November Election

The decision creates another unusual situation for Missouri voters.

Missouri conducted its August 4 congressional primary using the 2025 districts.

The November 3 general election is now expected to be conducted using the 2022 districts.

According to an Associated Press estimate, the change could affect more than one million potential Missouri voters, nearly one-quarter of voters statewide, because some voters will be placed in different congressional districts than the ones in which they participated during the August primary.

That issue formed a central part of the federal challenge to returning to the older districts.

The 2025 map was approved by Republican lawmakers during a special legislative session called by Gov. Mike Kehoe. The new districts were designed in part to make Missouri’s Kansas City-based 5th Congressional District, currently represented by Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, more favorable to Republicans.

People Not Politicians subsequently collected more than 300,000 signatures seeking a statewide referendum on the new map.

The Missouri Supreme Court ultimately determined that the referendum was valid and that its filing prevented the 2025 map from taking effect.

What Happens Now?

For the November 3 congressional election, Missouri election officials are now being directed to use the 2022 congressional map.

The 2025 map remains suspended, and Missouri voters will have their say on it through Proposition A in November.

The underlying federal litigation is not necessarily finished. The U.S. Supreme Court’s Thursday action was an emergency stay, not a final decision resolving every federal constitutional issue raised in the case.

There is also one major unanswered question remaining from Thursday’s events:

Will the Missouri Supreme Court hold Secretary of State Denny Hoskins in contempt?

The court did not announce a decision immediately following Thursday morning’s hearing.

Hoskins has now taken the action the justices were demanding by directing election officials back to the 2022 map, but the court must still decide whether his earlier instructions to use the 2025 map violated its September 3 injunction and whether any further action is warranted.

After several days in which Missouri officials faced court orders pointing in opposite directions, the immediate election question appears settled.

As of Thursday afternoon, Missouri is moving forward with the 2022 congressional districts for the November 3 election.