Opponents of congressional redistricting in Missouri appealed to the US supreme court on Wednesday after a federal panel let stand a ruling allowing the state to use a new map backed by Donald Trump in November’s midterms.
The map’s challengers, including a group opposed to the Republican-drawn map called People Not Politicians, made the request in an emergency filing, moving swiftly after Stephen Clark, a St Louis-based chief US district judge, issued his decision on Tuesday.
Clashing rulings had plunged Missouri’s congressional elections into uncertainty, less than two months out from the crucial midterms that will decide which party controls a closely divided congress – and will impact the fate of Trump’s agenda for the rest of his term.
First, the conservative supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh had denied an emergency request from Missouri officials to use a congressional map in November that was redrawn with Trump’s support to give the GOP an edge in the midterms. That decision effectively allowed a Missouri supreme court ruling to revert back to the ۲۰۲۲ map to stand.
Not long after, a ruling by Clark, who was appointed by Trump, issued a contradictory decision, temporarily preventing the state from using its old congressional maps in the November elections. The temporary restraining order, or TRO, ordered Missouri to use the newly drawn districts that favor Republicans, which the state used in its August primary elections.
Clark’s order was then swiftly appealed to the eighth US circuit court of appeals.
Trump urged Republican-led states last year to redraw congressional districts to their advantage ahead of November’s midterms, sparking a national redistricting battle. Texas went first, followed by Missouri in responding to the president’s push.
The revised map, passed by state lawmakers last September, targeted the fifth congressional district held by Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City, a longtime Democratic representative. It reassigned parts of Kansas City to two neighboring districts represented by Republicans and stretched the remainder of Cleaver’s district far eastward into rural Republican areas.
