Missouri Gerrymandering Fails to Secure Advantage for U.S. Republicans

The redrawing of Missouri congressional districts, attempted by the U.S. Republican Party to secure an additional seat in the House of Representatives in the November midterm elections, has ultimately fallen through.

On the 10th (local time), the U.S. Supreme Court stayed the enforcement of a temporary restraining order issued on the 8th by Chief Judge Stephen Clark of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, which had mandated the use of existing district maps rather than the new ones promoted by Republicans.

This decision accepted an emergency filing by the Missouri chapter of Citizens Not Politicians, a civic group that has opposed the Republican-pushed redistricting.

The complex sequence of events—which wound through the Missouri state legislature, the state government, the state supreme court, a federal district court, and the U.S. Supreme Court—originated from gerrymandering aimed at redrawing the maps to favor Republicans by one seat.

Currently, Missouri's representation in the U.S. House of Representatives stands at six Republicans and two Democrats.

The Republican-controlled state legislature drew up a new district map that reconfigured the 5th Congressional District, held by veteran Democratic Representative Emanuel Cleaver, to favor the Republican Party.

In response, Citizens Not Politicians opposed the new map and petitioned to put the matter to a public referendum.

The state government rejected the petition, and a primary election to select candidates based on the new districts was held on August 4th.

However, the state supreme court ruled on the 3rd that the referendum petition was valid, deciding that the new district maps could not be used until approved by a public vote and that the general election must be conducted using the existing maps.

Although the state government petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the ruling of the state supreme court, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who oversees Missouri, rejected the request on the 8th.

On the same day, conversely, Judge Clark of the federal district court issued a temporary restraining order against using the existing district maps.

Citizens Not Politicians then filed to halt the enforcement of that order, which the U.S. Supreme Court accepted on this day.

Consequently, Missouri has been placed in a confusing situation where candidates were nominated based on new district boundaries, but the general election may have to be conducted according to the old ones.

The New York Times (NYT) pointed out, "It is unusual to hold a general election using different districts from those used in the primaries, and the courts have not yet provided specific guidance on candidate selection methods."

While the Republican attempt to secure even one more seat amid unfavorable political terrain failed in Missouri, CNN analyzed that when broadening the view nationwide, Republicans have gained the upper hand in partisan gerrymandering battles across various states.

Even excluding Missouri, Republicans have gained potential opportunities to pick up 15 additional seats through redistricting in states including Texas (5), Florida (4), Ohio (2), Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, and North Carolina (1 each).

Democrats have gained potential opportunities to secure additional House seats only in California (5) and Utah (1).

Redistricting efforts attempted in Virginia, Maryland, New York, and elsewhere either failed or were blocked by the judiciary.

Based on these results alone, calculations show that Republicans could secure nine more House seats than Democrats through redistricting.

However, some perspectives suggest that having favorable districts does not guarantee victory; rather, it could disperse partisan voters and result in "losing both ends of the deal."

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.