![Judge Rules Missouri Can Use Redrawn Map In November Midterms [Op-Ed]](https://ewccommunication.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/17873258675005-tjEyli.jpg)
Judge Rules Missouri Can Use Redrawn Map In November Midterms [Op-Ed]
On Wednesday, a Missouri judge ruled that the state can use its newly redrawn congressional map in the upcoming midterm election.
The New York Times reports that Cole County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Green denied an effort to put the redrawn map to a statewide vote this November. The case centered on a ballot initiative that challenged the redistricting effort implemented by the Republican-controlled state legislature last year. The redrawn map could give Republicans an extra seat, helping protect their narrow House majority.
People Not Politicians, an organization that collected enough signatures for the new map to be put to a voter referendum, filed the lawsuit after Missouri’s Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins said the referendum didn’t qualify for the ballot. It’s worth noting that Hoskins waited until Aug. 4, the day of Missouri’s primaries, to make that announcement.
Green sided with Hoskins, who argued that Missouri’s Constitution puts control of the redistricting solely with the state legislature.
“The Missouri Constitution does not supply any statement — let alone a clear one — reallocating authority over congressional redistricting away from the General Assembly to a referendum process,” Green wrote in the ruling.
“Changing the maps at this late juncture is not just ‘impractical’; it is impossible,” Green added.
Well, according to the U.S. Supreme Court, that doesn’t matter at all. States have changed their congressional maps while primaries were already underway.
“The most important thing that happened today is that there was a ruling,” Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians, told AP after the ruling. “The state has tried to slow down the judicial process for months, and now that we are out of Cole County, the real decision will be made. Our case now moves forward.”
Y’all, the more I report on Missouri, the more I have beef with its elected officials. While I’m inherently opposed to Republican politics, Missouri Republicans are something else. They have consistently gone against the will of the people in recent years.
After the Dobbs decision, Missouri triggered one of the strictest abortion bans in the nation. That didn’t fly with Missouri voters, as the state became the only place where an abortion ban has been reversed through a voter-approved constitutional amendment. Instead of acknowledging the will of the people, the state legislature continually introduced new legislation that effectively kept the ban in place.
They even had the audacity to introduce a ballot measure that would’ve made it significantly harder for ballot initiatives like the one reversing the abortion ban to pass. I don’t know why they thought they could convince Missouri voters to abdicate their power to a state legislature that clearly isn’t acting in their best interests.
While the ruling wasn’t a win for People Not Politicians, the organization is hopeful that Missouri’s Supreme Court will rule in their favor.
“Everyone knows that Cole County is not the final decision here,” Von Gland said. “After months of delay, we are pleased to be moving forward to the Missouri Supreme Court to enforce our constitutional rights.”
SEE ALSO:
Missouri Legislature Passes Gerrymandered Congressional Map
Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe Sets Special Session For Redistricting