Missouri Judge Rules on Congressional Redistricting

A judge in Missouri delivered a significant decision in favor of President Donald Trump and the Republicans in a redistricting case. The ruling states that Missouri’s referendum process cannot be utilized to contest congressional maps drawn by the Legislature, thereby allowing a new GOP-friendly map to stay intact for November’s midterm elections.

On Wednesday, Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green ruled that the state’s constitutional referendum provisions are not applicable to congressional redistricting instigated by the General Assembly. This supports Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins in a high-profile battle over a Trump-backed map that may influence control of the U.S. House.

Judge Green also declared that Hoskins’ refusal to certify a referendum petition was lawful, and mandated that the Republican-backed congressional map remain operational for the 2026 general election.

A woman dressed in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ attire protests the state’s redistricting maps inside Missouri Capitol Building’s rotunda in Jefferson City. (Image: Michael Thomas/Getty Images)

Plaintiff Richard von Glahn appealed Green’s decision later that evening, according to court records.

The ruling upholds a map passed by Missouri’s Republican-majority Legislature, following Trump’s encouragement to GOP states to redraw congressional boundaries ahead of the 2026 midterms. These reforms aim to improve Republican prospects to unseat Democratic Representative Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City.

Missouri’s current eight-member House delegation consists of six Republicans and two Democrats. The map divides sections of Kansas City among adjacent Republican-controlled districts, while stretching the remainder of Cleaver’s 5th Congressional District eastward into Republican-favored rural locales. Approximately 59% of voters in the reconfigured district are newcomers, as estimated by the Associated Press.

Trump Encourages Republicans

President Trump exhorted Republicans to adopt a bold stance as red states revise congressional maps.

President Donald Trump and Republicans scored a major victory in redistricting on Wednesday. (Image: Will Oliver/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Republican state Senator Rick Brattin emerged victorious in the GOP preliminary election within the redistricted zone earlier this August, while Cleaver faced no opposition for the Democratic nomination. The updated boundaries were already employed in Missouri’s August preliminaries.

Opponents amassed thousands of signatures intending to initiate a state-wide vote on the map; however, Hoskins turned down the petition, stipulating that Missouri’s Constitution prohibits congressional redistricting from being subject to a referendum.

Green concurred, issuing judgment favoring Hoskins, along with the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and the Missouri Republican State Committee, all of which intervened in the case.

Missouri state Senator Doug Beck addresses a press briefing within the rotunda of the Missouri State Capitol Building in Jefferson City, regarding the state’s redistricting map initiative preceding the midterms. (Image: Michael Thomas/Getty Images)

The Missouri dispute is part of a wider national redistricting confrontations anticipated ahead of November. Republican Governor Mike Kehoe convened legislators for a special session the previous year following President Trump’s urging for Republican-dominated states to reconfigure congressional boundaries ahead of the midterms. Missouri followed Texas’s lead amongst Republican-led states pursuing fresh congressional boundaries.

Green’s ruling maintains the Trump-supported map while the case progresses to the appeals court.

The White House has not immediately responded to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.