{"id":2670162,"date":"2026-09-25T19:50:01","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T23:50:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignscotus-issues-final-order-blocking-missouris-gop-backed-map-for-midterms\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T19:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T23:52:08","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignscotus-issues-final-order-blocking-missouris-gop-backed-map-for-midterms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignscotus-issues-final-order-blocking-missouris-gop-backed-map-for-midterms\/","title":{"rendered":"SCOTUS Blocks Missouri&#8217;s GOP-Backed Map \u2014 Again"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignscotus-issues-final-order-blocking-missouris-gop-backed-map-for-midterms%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2670162&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked Missouri from using its GOP-backed 2025 congressional map in the upcoming midterm elections. the Court granted an emergency stay on a ruling by Missouri federal Judge Stephen Clark, which had required the state to implement the new map at the discretion of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. The legal dispute originated from a Missouri Supreme Court decision that mandated using an earlier 2022 map and called for a referendum on the 2025 map in 2026. Clark had temporarily ordered the state to use the 2025 map after a federal challenge, but the Supreme Court stayed that order, citing the potential for electoral chaos and the timing of early ballots.The Court emphasized that implementing last-minute changes close to an election undermines stability and that Missouri&#8217;s actions were not the fault of the state courts.the Supreme Court\u2019s actions maintain the status quo, preventing the use of the 2025 map for the upcoming elections, and reaffirming that the current election process under the 2022 map should continue without interference.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The U.S. Supreme Court blocked Missouri from using its GOP-backed 2025 congressional map for the upcoming midterm elections on Friday. There were no noted dissents. <\/p>\n<p>In its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/25pdf\/26a388_q86b.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">per curiam opinion<\/a>, the high court granted an emergency application to pause a recent ruling by Missouri-based Chief District Judge Stephen Clark. The Trump appointee issued a permanent injunction requiring the Show Me State to use the GOP-friendly map earlier this week at the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/09\/22\/8th-circuit-orders-missouri-to-use-gop-backed-map-for-midterms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">direction<\/a> of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.<\/p>\n<p>The entire legal battle can be traced back to a Missouri Supreme Court decision that mandated state officials to use the state\u2019s 2022 six Republican-two Democrat map instead of the seven Republican-one Democrat map enacted last year. The ruling also said that a statewide referendum on the new map \u2014 which was pushed by left-wing activists \u2014 must appear on Missouri\u2019s 2026 fall ballot.<\/p>\n<p>Clark <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/09\/09\/federal-judge-reinstates-missouris-new-election-map-after-kavanaugh-declines-to-get-involved\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">issued<\/a> a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaign8th-circuit-orders-missouri-to-use-gop-backed-map-for-midterms\/\" title=\"8th Circuit ... Missouri To Use GOP-Backed ... For Midterms\">temporary restraining order days<\/a> later in a federal challenge brought by several congressional candidates, mandating the Show Me State to use the 2025 map for the midterms. That ruling came moments after U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh rejected an emergency request by Missouri officials to pause the Missouri Supreme Court\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n<p>SCOTUS ultimately <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/09\/10\/scotus-blocks-missouri-from-using-gop-backed-congressional-map-for-midterms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">froze<\/a> Clark\u2019s TRO without explanation the following day, leaving the matter to be further litigated in the lower courts. The 8th Circuit subsequently issued a ruling on Monday directing Clark to issue a permanent injunction allowing the state to use the 2025 map in the midterms. The three-judge panel highlighted how some Missouri voters would be voting for a different slate of candidates in the general election than the ones they voted on in the primaries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMissouri cannot deprive more than 1.4 million of its residents of their choice in half of [the election] process without violating Article I, Section 2\u201d of the U.S. Constitution, the appellate court ruled.<\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court noted in its Friday ruling how its Sept. 10 stay order \u201cmeant that the 2022 map would be used in the 2026 congressional election in Missouri, absent further order of this Court,\u201d and that \u201cthe election has now begun under the 2022 map.\u201d The justices further decried the 8th Circuit\u2019s order to Clark to issue an injunction as being at odds with what the high court had previously ruled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiven this Court\u2019s two prior orders in this litigation, our conclusion that this was error should come as no surprise,\u201d the ruling reads.<\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court went on to say that \u2014 \u201cputting [its] prior orders aside\u201d \u2014 the traditional stay factors used by the justices to determine whether to grant emergency relief warrant pausing the lower courts\u2019 orders. <\/p>\n<p>On the merits, the high court pushed back on the 8th Circuit\u2019s assertions that there were violations of Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. The justices wrote that the court\u2019s \u201cprecedents have not previously stated that Article I, Section 2 requires a state to use the primary election map in a general election, and given that the equities heavily favor staying this late-breaking intervention, it suffices that the merits are not entirely clearcut.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The high court further argued that the equities favor pausing the lower courts\u2019 orders, and that the <em>Purcell<\/em> principle \u2014 which cautions federal courts against changing state election rules too close to an election \u2014 \u201capplies with even greater force here.\u201d The justices observed how the midterm elections have already begun in Missouri under the 2022 map, with ballots having already been printed and absentee and overseas voting having started.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt this late date, ordering reversion to the 2025 map in the midst of an ongoing election would usher in electoral chaos. <em>Purcell<\/em> protects against such disorder,\u201d Friday\u2019s decision reads. \u201cThe Eighth Circuit\u2019s application of <em>Purcell<\/em> was incorrect. Even though \u2018federal courts should not impose changes close to an election, States are free to decide for themselves whether last-minute changes to an election are in their best interests\u2019 \u2014 subject, of course, to certain limited constraints imposed by federal law.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court concluded its opinion by arguing that the Missouri Supreme Court \u201cwas not responsible for the late-breaking changes.\u201d Referencing a May opinion by the Show Me State court that purportedly stated \u201cthat the 2025 map would not take effect until approved by the voters in an intervening referendum\u201d if the petition for a referendum was legal, the high court said that Missouri\u2019s election chief \u201cwas well aware that conducting the August primary election with the 2025 map carried significant risks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Secretary [of State] nonetheless chose to proceed with the 2025 map for the primary,\u201d the court wrote.<\/p>\n<p>According to Friday\u2019s ruling, the Supreme Court\u2019s orders barring the lower federal courts from permitting Missouri to use its 2025 map remain in effect pending further action lifting those orders from SCOTUS. The justices further affirmed that the lower courts should not \u201cenjoin or otherwise prohibit the use of the 2022 map\u201d nor \u201corder or otherwise require Missouri to use the 2025 map\u201d in the 2026 fall elections. <\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics and RealClearHealth. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SCOTUS blocks Missouri&#8217;s 2025 GOP map for midterms<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2670163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SCOTUS-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[35509,22850,8584,16985,32275],"class_list":["post-2670162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-court-decision","tag-gerrymandering","tag-missouri","tag-redistricting","tag-supreme-court"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SCOTUS-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2670162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2670162"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2670162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2670167,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2670162\/revisions\/2670167"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2670163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2670162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2670162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2670162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}