Missouri’s redistricting in flux after dissonant court rulings

A Republican-led bid to revive a redistricting plan that favors the GOP fell short at the Supreme Court Tuesday, but it later picked up steam after a federal judge in Missouri ruled that officials must move ahead with the districts used in primaries last month — a map that’s likely to net Republicans an additional House seat.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh turned down a Republican-backed emergency appeal that sought to block a Missouri Supreme Court ruling last week restoring earlier district lines and ordering that voters to weigh in on the redistricting plan in November for use in future elections.

However, Chief U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Clark, in a decision made public within minutes of Kavanaugh’s ruling, issued a temporary restraining order that effectively set aside the state Supreme Court’s decision and granted Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins’ request to move forward with the plan likely to elect a Republican in one of the state’s two districts currently held by Democrats.

The Democratic group leading the push to block Republicans' redistricting efforts swiftly appealed Clark's decisionto the 8th Circuit Court and has asked Clark to stay his order.

The dissonant rulings add another layer of chaos to Missouri’s election administration. Local election officials had prepared for months as the debate over which map to use moved through the court system, planning for elections in the event either map gets used. The state used the new, gerrymandered map for August’s primaries.

The timing of settling these legal disputes is crucial. The rulings came hours before the Tuesday deadline for Missouri election officials to make changes to any ballots, and ballots must be finalized before Sept. 19.

Kavanaugh issued his ruling because he handles urgent matters arising in the 8th Circuit, which includes Missouri. Kavanaugh issued no explanation of his decision, nor did he indicate that he had referred the matter to the full court, as is customary in significant cases. Missouri officials could ask another justice for relief, but such requests are almost never granted.

The justices rarely disturb state courts’ decisions about matters like the referendum petitions in Missouri that sought to put the redistricting before voters for approval.

Clark, a St. Louis-based Trump appointee, said two Republican candidates who sued were likely to prevail in their arguments that changing the district lines at this point in the process would violate two provisions in the U.S. Constitution: one establishing the House of Representatives and another guaranteeing equal protection of the laws.

Lawyers for state officials warned in their appeal to the Supreme Court that the state faced “disaster” and “unprecedented chaos” in part because primaries already took place under the new lines last month.

Democrats argued any last-minute chaos to Missouri’s election administration was intentionally created by Hoskins, pointing to Republican leaders in the state arguing that delaying the decision on the redistricting referendum would benefit Republicans.

President Donald Trump denounced the state Supreme Court ruling last week.

“The Election Process, as usual, is being disturbed in America!" he wrote in a post on Truth Social. “Missouri must be able to use the map that was in effect just a couple of months ago, in the Primary. This is a Dark Day for “Justice” in Missouri!”