Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins has asked a federal court to step into an extraordinary clash over the state’s congressional map as the Missouri Supreme Court considers whether to hold him in contempt.

Hoskins is caught between two court orders pointing in opposite directions. A federal judge told him to use Missouri’s new Republican-drawn map for the November election, while the state’s highest court had already ordered him not to use it.

The stakes reach far beyond one state official. Missouri voters already cast their primary ballots under the new map, and the fight could help decide control of the U.S. House.

Video of the latest filing shows how quickly the redistricting battle has moved from a map dispute into a confrontation between state and federal courts.

The latest move followed a late-night show-cause order from the Missouri Supreme Court.

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Missouri Lawyers Media reports that the court ordered Hoskins to explain why his September 8 instructions to local election officials did not violate its injunction against the House Bill 1 map.

Hoskins was given until noon Wednesday to respond. He was also ordered to appear in person for arguments at 10 a.m. Thursday.

The court asked him to address whether its injunction remains in force after U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh declined Missouri’s emergency request for relief. It also asked why Hoskins should not stop taking action on the congressional map until a higher court with authority to review the state judgment provides guidance.

The legal collision began with the state court’s September 3 decision.

The Supreme Court of Missouri held that a timely referendum petition suspended House Bill 1 before the new map could take effect. The court said the petition was filed on December 9, 2025, two days before the law’s scheduled effective date.

Under that ruling, Missouri would revert to its 2022 congressional districts for the November election while voters decide Proposition A, the referendum on the new map.

The new map was drawn after President Trump urged Republican-led states to answer aggressive Democratic redistricting efforts. It could give Republicans a seven-to-one advantage in Missouri’s congressional delegation by making the Kansas City-area seat held by Democrat Emanuel Cleaver far more competitive.

The problem is that Missouri already conducted its August primary under House Bill 1. Roughly 1.2 million voters participated, and nominees were chosen in the districts created by that map.

That is why Chief U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark issued a temporary restraining order on Tuesday.

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The federal court’s order bars Hoskins and other state officials from using, publishing or mandating any congressional map other than House Bill 1 for the November 3 election.

Clark found that switching maps between the primary and general election could cause irreparable harm. Candidates nominated in one set of districts could be forced to run in another, while voters could receive general-election choices selected by different primary electorates.

The order remains in effect for 14 days while the federal case moves toward a preliminary-injunction hearing.

The judge said the parties agreed on the material facts and that no hearing was needed before the temporary order was entered. He also noted that Missouri’s deadline for finalizing the general-election ballot arrived on September 8, leaving election officials almost no room for another abrupt change.

Governor Mike Kehoe said the federal ruling restored clarity at the ballot deadline and confirmed that the Missouri First Map would be used in November.

Hoskins made the same case in his official response after Clark issued the order.

The Missouri Secretary of State’s office said the federal ruling ensures that candidates nominated in August will run in the same districts in November.

Hoskins called the ruling a victory for Missouri and argued that it halted a constitutional crisis. His office then sent local election officials instructions to proceed under the House Bill 1 map.

Redistricting opponents say that instruction defied the state court’s still-active injunction. Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias framed Hoskins’ federal request as an attempt to avoid the consequences of that decision.

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That argument leaves out the practical reality created by the state court’s timing: candidates and voters completed an entire primary under House Bill 1 before being told that a different map should govern the general election.

The federal court treated continuity between those two elections as a constitutional concern, not a matter of political convenience.

Missouri now has two courts issuing commands that cannot both be followed. The federal judge says use House Bill 1.

The state supreme court says its injunction against House Bill 1 remains binding and wants Hoskins to explain himself in person.

Unless one court backs down or a higher court intervenes, Thursday’s hearing could turn a hard-fought redistricting case into a direct test of which judicial order controls Missouri’s election machinery.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

 

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