US Supreme Court Again Blocks Missouri Redistricting Favorable to Republicans

The U.S. Supreme Court has once again blocked Missouri's redrawn congressional map, which favored Republicans, ahead of the upcoming midterm elections in November.

In a brief order on the 10th (local time), the Supreme Court stayed the enforcement of a temporary restraining order issued by Chief Judge Stephen Clark of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, which had required the use of the existing map rather than the new Republican-backed map.

This decision accepted an emergency application by the Missouri chapter of "Citizens Not Politicians," a civic group that has opposed the redistricting push by Republicans.

Previously on the 8th, conservative Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh denied an emergency application by the state of Missouri asking to overturn the Missouri Supreme Court's decision to maintain the existing map, and the court has once again handed down a ruling unfavorable to Republicans.

The Supreme Court did not provide a detailed explanation for its decision.

As a result, Missouri is set to face continued confusion as the general election will be held using the existing map, even though the primary elections to select each party's nominees were conducted under the newly drawn map.

Republicans currently hold a 6-to-2 advantage over Democrats in Missouri's U.S. House delegation, and they had redrawn the district of veteran Democratic Representative Emanuel Cleaver to favor Republicans in order to secure one additional seat.

The New York Times (NYT) pointed out that "this ruling increases uncertainty over how Missouri will conduct its midterm elections," adding that "it is rare to hold a general election using a different district map than the one used in the primaries, and the courts have not yet provided specific guidance on candidate selection."

CNN reported that the Supreme Court's ruling "affects just a single seat, but marks a rare instance where Republicans suffered an election-related defeat at the 6-3 conservative-majority Supreme Court."

(Photo: Getty Images)
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