Missouri Congressional Redistricting Challenge (Wise)

A pro-voting lawsuit challenging the Missouri Legislature’s new gerrymandered congressional map. 

Background

Missouri voters filed a lawsuit in state court challenging the Missouri legislature’s new congressional map breaking Kansas City into three distinct voting districts. Plaintiffs claim the new map violates the state constitution’s prohibition on mid-decade redistricting and creates “non-compact” districts to dilute the voting power of Black communities. The lawsuit also asserts that the Legislature acted so hastily in redrawing the map that it placed a group of voters in two separate congressional districts. The plaintiffs seek to block the new congressional map.

Why It Matters

The redrawn congressional map is in coordination with President Trump’s broader mid-decade redistricting plan to secure additional Republican congressional seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Kansas City — for more than 50 years — has been a single voting district. Now, the Missouri Legislature seeks to divide the City across three larger conservative districts to weaken the voting power of diverse communities in Kansas City. 

Latest Updates: 

• Jan. 26, 2025: A court in Kansas City will hold a bench trial on Wise & Healey plaintiffs’ non-compactness and malapportionment claims.
• Dec. 10, 2025: The court denied defendants’ motion to dismiss and paused proceedings on plaintiffs’ mid-decade redistricting claim pending a potential appeal in Luther. The court also granted the Missouri Republican State Committee’s motion to intervene.
• Dec. 9, 2025: The court granted Healey plaintiffs’ motion to consolidate their case with Wise.
• Nov. 24, 2024: The court heard arguments on defendants’ motion to dismiss.
• Nov. 23, 2025: The Missouri Republican State Committee filed their reply to intervene as a defendant.
• Nov. 18, 2025: Plaintiffs filed their opposition to the Missouri Republican State Committee’s motion to intervene as a defendant.
• Nov. 8, 2025: The Missouri Republican State Committee filed a motion to intervene as a defendant.
• Oct. 3, 2025: Plaintiffs’ filed a motion seeking to join their mid-decade redistricting claim with Healey.
• Sept. 26, 2025: Defendants filed a motion to dismiss for lack of standing and filing in the wrong court.
• Sept. 19, 2025: Plaintiffs filed a motion seeking a consolidated preliminary injunction hearing and consolidated trial for their unconstitutional mid-decade redistricting claim. Defendants then asked the court to rule first on their forthcoming motion to dismiss.
• Sept. 12, 2025: Plaintiffs filed their complaint and motion for preliminary injunction.