Judge upholds GOP-friendly Missouri congressional map

A Jackson County circuit judge in Missouri ruled on Thursday that a new, GOP-friendly congressional map can stay in place ahead of the midterms. 

The Campaign Legal Center (CLC), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and ACLU of Missouri filed suit on behalf of voters in the state, arguing the mid-decade redistricting effort was unlawful.

The organizations behind the lawsuit said in a joint statement that the latest ruling “misapplied the law” and “overlooked overwhelming evidence” that the new map violates a Missouri Constitution provision requiring districts to be compact.

“Drawn under direct pressure from the Trump administration, the map divides the Kansas City area across multiple sprawling districts in clear violation of that constitutional mandate. If allowed to stand, it would represent a significant setback for fair representation in Missouri,” the groups said in a statement. 

But the court’s Thursday ruling asserted that the plan complies with that mandate, according to a filing shared by the ACLU.

Missouri Republicans passed a new House map earlier this year amid a push from the White House and national Republicans. 

The map would give Republicans another pickup opportunity in the red Show Me State, likely upping the number of GOP lawmakers to seven and reducing the number of Democrats to one. 

The new map targets Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver’s (D-Mo.) 5th Congressional District in Kansas City, splitting up the urban center and adding rural territory to make Cleaver’s seat more conservative. 

Cleaver, who has been in the seat for two decades, won reelection with 60 percent of the vote in 2024, after line changes in 2022. He panned the push for mid-decade redistricting as “very dangerous.”

Meanwhile, the Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments earlier this week in a separate challenge over whether lawmakers were allowed to redraw mid-decade under the state’s Constitution.

Democrats have decried the Missouri map as a power grab amid the national fight over mid-decade redistricting.

Republicans have passed new maps in Texas and North Carolina, and they’re eyeing more pre-midterm changes in Florida. Voters approved Democrat-friendly redistricting in California, and they’ll consider a similar change in Virginia next month. Democrats also notched a surprise pickup opportunity with a court-ordered map in Utah.

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