Missouri remains in electoral limbo after the state’s Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a gerrymandered congressional map that would split Kansas City and ruled that the map could be used in the upcoming August primaries.
Takeaways
- Missouri’s gerrymandered map splits KC and sows confusion around this year’s elections.
- A petition seeking to force a vote on the map could still stop it from taking effect. The last day for certification of the petition signatures is Aug. 4.
- The coinciding dates have left voters and election officials in a state of limbo as they wait for Secretary of State Denny Hoskins’ decision.
At the heart of two cases were questions about whether the new map was unconstitutional for violating requirements that districts be “compact and contiguous” and whether the map was in effect.
In the first case, the court rebuffed arguments that compactness should take into account transportation corridors, industries and communities of interest. The court ruled those factors stretched the definitions of compact and contiguous and that complainants failed to show there were any violations or departures from established standards.
It also asserted that redistricting is a political process best left to legislators and that it was not the court’s role to delve into intentions or second-guess those decisions.
In the second case, the court ruled that the mere submission of signatures seeking a public referendum on the new map was not enough to stop the bill from becoming law, meaning the new map is in effect until the signatures are certified.
The “Missouri First” map splits Kansas City between three congressional districts. It unites the Northland, but redraws the western boundary for the 5th District along Troost Avenue, combining communities east of the city’s historic racial dividing line with predominantly rural communities stretching past Jefferson City. Areas west of Troost are now included in the 4th District, extending south as far as the Greene County line, just north of Springfield.
“I strongly disagree that splitting the largest city in our state, Kansas City, into three separate and vastly different congressional districts is compact,” current 5th District U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver said in a statement to The Beacon. “Further, using the traditional racial dividing line of Troost Avenue as the new western border of the 5th District is simply egregious.”
McClain Bryant Macklin, the chief policy and impact officer at Health Forward Foundation, said that while there are similarities in issues across rural and urban areas, combining the two ultimately dilutes their abilities to voice their respective needs.
“There are still marked differences that make those communities distinct, and tools needed to solve for some of those distinct realities,” Macklin said. “There are different drivers … so no one gains from this.”
The division makes the 5th District a more competitive race for Republicans seeking to oust Cleaver and secure an additional seat in a closely divided Congress.
It is part of larger efforts nationwide to maintain a Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives during the 2026 midterm elections. President Donald Trump has publicly pressured Republican states to redraw their congressional map boundaries to achieve that goal, and Missouri was one of the first states to act on that.
‘Almost unfair’
Protesters with People Not Politicians, the group that collected and submitted the initiative petition signatures for the referendum, and the ACLU gathered outside the Missouri Supreme Court building after the final arguments had been heard to voice their continued opposition to the map.
Mere hours afterward, the state’s highest court handed down its decision.
Macklin was surprised at how quickly the decisions were rendered.
“I felt like it was almost unfair to all the people that showed up yesterday to demonstrate the people power and groundswell of opposition to the maps and support for the referendum,” Macklin said. “I just thought about all the folks that made the drive and stood out there in the hot sun to scream at the top of their lungs to make their positions known, just for that to be overshadowed by such a quick ruling.”
With the court’s decision allowing use of the map in the August primaries, but certification still pending, Macklin said it feels like being suspended in a state of limbo until Secretary of State Denny Hoskins issues a decision certifying signatures.
Hoskins has until Aug. 4, the day of the primaries, to certify whether there are enough valid petition signatures to put the referendum regarding the map on the Nov. 4 general election ballot.
Election officials say they are similarly waiting for direction from Hoskins to implement plans for the transition.
In one case, Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon wrote in a letter to Hoskins that she would not revise voter lists for congressional districts until he made a decision.
For Kansas City voters who may switch districts, the process is more straightforward.
Regardless of what map is used, voters will not need to update their voter registration themselves. Shawn Kieffer, the Republican director for the Kansas City Board of Election Commissioners, said that the department would automatically update voter registration and issue new voter ID cards to those who are affected by redistricting.
No matter the outcome, Macklin said the decision has wide-reaching implications for the public’s ability to hold elected officials accountable.
“That’s what folks need to realize, that this is not an issue that only affects Kansas City,” Macklin said. “It affects not only folks throughout the state. It affects the sanctity of our democracy.”
Disclosure: The Health Forward Foundation supports The Beacon’s coverage of healthcare.
