Missouri Republicans dragged out the battle over their gerrymander. Now they’re trying to blame the state’s top court

Missouri Republicans asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate a gerrymandered map just weeks before Election Day are all pointing the finger at the same scapegoat: the Missouri Supreme Court.

Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins (R) deliberately dragged out making a decision on whether the new map is subject to a referendum so the state could use the gerrymandered districts for the August primary. 

But now GOP candidates and state officials are trying to blame the state’s top court for striking the map down, forcing the state to switch maps before the general election.

“Missouri’s goal throughout this litigation has been to run an orderly and fair congressional election. However, the Missouri Supreme Court’s September 3, 2026 order—changing Missouri’s congressional map one month after the Primary Election—virtually guaranteed that would be impossible,” lawyers for Missouri’s attorney general wrote in their brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday.

“Ever since that ruling, Missouri has suffered substantial election-related chaos,” they added.

Their arguments leave out the fact that the Missouri Supreme Court had warned Hoskins before the primary that the map could not take legal effect if citizens gathered enough signatures to force a referendum vote. 

However, Hoskins chose to wait until the last possible day to reject the referendum petition, launching a new wave of lawsuits. Aware of the delay tactics, the state Supreme Court already had its eye on the referendum case when it was at the trial court level, warning lower courts not to dawdle and run out the clock.

Ultimately, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the gerrymandered map never legally took effect and can’t be used until voters approve it through a ballot measure in November. Under the Missouri Constitution, voters have the right to veto state legislation. The Missouri Supreme Court said the congressional map used in 2022 and 2024 must be used in the 2026 general election.

The Missouri Supreme Court heavily criticized Hoskins for his delay in its Sept. 3 ruling, noting he held a press conference “about one hour” before the statutory deadline announcing his rejection of the referendum despite the petition being filed months before that.

“There is no dispute the secretary could have issued his certificate any time after the December 9 filing but had to issue it by August 4 at 5:00 p.m.,” the court wrote.

“Because the plain language of article III, section 49 of the Missouri Constitution authorizes a referendum as to ‘any act of the general assembly’ and no exception applies, the referendum petition was legal, sufficient, and timely,” the court added.

Later, when Hoskins still tried to force use of the 2025 map in violation of the ruling, the Missouri Supreme Court held him in contempt. No punishment was served as Hoskins, after the contempt hearing, stood down and instructed state officials to use the 2022 map this November.

Though the Republican candidates now blame the Missouri Supreme Court for delaying the map decision, they did not file their challenge in a federal court until the day after the state decision came down.  The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with them and ordered the 2025 gerrymandered map be used this fall – sending the issue back to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In their briefs, not only did Missouri Republicans bash the state Supreme Court, but they also pushed to expand the U.S. Supreme Court’s Purcell principle – the idea that federal judges should not change voting or election rules too close to an election – to restrain state court decisions. 

“If this Court grants a stay, that would be the fifth time that a court has ordered Missouri to use a different congressional map since September 3—when the Missouri Supreme Court became the first court to ever enter an injunction forcing a State to use a dramatically different congressional map between a primary and general election,” lawyers for the state AG wrote. 

“The honest truth is that the chaos injected by the Missouri Supreme Court will remain no matter what this Court does,” they added.

A decision on Missouri’s maps can come from the U.S. Supreme Court at any time.