From Mother Jones · Sophie Hurwitz · · 1m 30s
Supreme Court kills Missouri's extreme gerrymander
The justices unanimously blocked Republicans' map that would have flipped a Democratic seat, signaling limits to partisan redistricting.
In brief
The justices unanimously blocked Republicans' map that would have flipped a Democratic seat, signaling limits to partisan redistricting. Even Trump-appointed justices rejected Missouri's gerrymander, suggesting the Supreme Court may finally be drawing a line on extreme partisan maps. Originally reported by Mother…
Missouri's gerrymander gets blocked
The Supreme Court unanimously rejected Missouri Republicans' map that would have given them seven of eight congressional seats by splitting up Democratic Kansas City.
GOP legislature redraws the map
In 2025, Missouri's Republican-led legislature redrew districts at Trump's urging to flip a Democratic seat, changing the split from 6-2 to 7-1 in their favor.
Voters force a referendum
Angry Kansas City and St. Louis voters collected 300,000 signatures to put the map to a popular vote, arguing it should block the new map from the 2026 election.
Courts clash over which map
Missouri's state court blocked the new map, but a federal judge sided with Republicans, creating chaos. The Supreme Court had to step in and settle the conflict.
Kavanaugh already said no
Two weeks before the full court's decision, Justice Brett Kavanaugh had already rejected the Republican appeal on his own, a rare signal of how weak their case was.
Court warns lower courts off
The Supreme Court's final order sternly instructed lower courts to stop interfering and explicitly banned using the 2025 map in 2026, with no noted dissents.
“"require Missouri to use the 2025 map in the 2026 congressional election."”
Here's the gist
Even Trump-appointed justices rejected Missouri's gerrymander, suggesting the Supreme Court may finally be drawing a line on extreme partisan maps.
