Missouri asks Supreme Court to restore GOP-friendly congressional map

Missouri launched an effort at the Supreme Court late Friday to restore its Republican-friendly congressional map, warning that a lower ruling invalidating it has unleashed “unprecedented chaos” on the midterms.

“A federal-election-administration disaster is unfolding in Missouri,” Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway’s (R) office wrote in its emergency application .

Missouri’s new congressional map created a 7-1 GOP split by weakening Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s (D-Mo.) Kansas City-based seat. It was one of a handful of states where Republicans have boosted their chances in the mid-decade redistricting war, adding to gains in places like Texas and Florida.

On Thursday, the Missouri Supreme Court blocked the map. The court unanimously ruled that the state’s constitution permits voters to organize a referendum on the redistricting plan. Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins (R) previously denied such an effort by deciding otherwise.

The new ruling means Missouri cannot use its Republican-friendly map that it used for the primary. Instead, the state must revert to a 6-1 GOP-favored design. The referendum would be placed on the ballot for approval in November, but it can’t take effect, since voters haven’t signed off.

“Only this Court can prevent Missouri from being forced to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of voters; and only this Court can ensure that Missouri hosts a timely and lawful federal congressional election. The Court should do so,” the state wrote in court filings.

The case is on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket, where the court handles urgent matters on an expedited timeline, often without oral argument. By default, the request heads to Justice Brett Kavanaugh, an appointee of former President Trump who handles emergency matters arising from Missouri. He could also refer the case to the full court for a vote.

Missouri argues the lower decision violated the federal Constitution, which hands state legislatures authority to regulate elections.

Hanaway’s office called the ruling “bizarre and profoundly anti-democratic” and said it would irreparably harm voters.

“As far as Missouri is aware, no State has ever been forced to use a different congressional map for an election cycle merely because a small minority of voters submitted a petition. And it certainly has never been done after a completed primary election,” the state wrote.

It lurches the Supreme Court into the redistricting wars once again. Last December, the high court revived a congressional map in Texas that sparked the mid-decade redistricting war by adding up to five Republican pickup opportunities. A lower court had invalidated it as a likely racial gerrymander.

In May, the court refused Virginia Democrats’ plea to reinstate their congressional map after the state’s top court ruled they hadn’t followed procedures mandated by Virginia’s constitution.

And on its normal docket, the Supreme Court earlier this year narrowed redistricting challenges under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. That decision has allowed states like Louisiana to change their maps ahead of the midterms.