JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — New U.S. House districts in Missouri backed by President Donald Trump can be used ahead of the midterm elections, despite the potential for a voter referendum on the new map, a judge ruled Friday.
The decision by Cole County Circuit Judge Brian Stumpe marked a triumph for Republicans, who hope the districts will help them win an additional congressional seat in the November elections.
Opponents of the new districts asserted they should have been automatically suspended in December when more than 300,000 petition signatures were submitted calling for a statewide referendum on the plan.
But Stumpe said opponents lacked the legal grounds to sue, had done so too soon and were asking the court to get involved in a political question best left to the executive and legislative branches. He said the new map can be suspended only if it is ultimately determined that the referendum petition meets legal muster and contains enough valid signatures.
“Without verification requirements, any group could suspend legislation merely by submitting boxes of invalid signatures, signatures of unregistered voters, forged names, or other fraudulent submissions,” Stumpe wrote. “Clearly, the framers of Missouri’s Constitution could not have intended such an easily exploited system that would allow bad-faith actors to paralyze the legislative process.”
A decision is still to come on referendum signatures
Under state law, Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins has until Aug. 4 — the date of Missouri’s primary election — to make a determination on the validity of the referendum petition. Based on progress reports from local election authorities, the petition appears on track to get enough signatures. But Hoskins has questioned the legality of the referendum, regardless of how many signatures it gets.
“I believe that the referendum process was never meant to be used for congressional redistricting," Hoskins said earlier this month in response to questions from The Associated Press.
Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said in a statement that Friday's ruling was “a win on all counts.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, which sued on behalf of voters who signed the referendum petition, said it would appeal.
“This order defies over a century of judicial precedent while rendering Missourians’ constitutional right to the referendum process second to the will of politicians," the ACLU said in a statement.
If the referendum ultimately goes forward, voters won't see the ballot summary originally prepared by Hoskins. Stumpe ruled last week that the summary was unfair and likely to bias people in favor of the new districts. He ordered a revised summary to be used in its place.
Virginia could be the next to decide on redistricting
Missouri is one of several states engaged in a national redistricting battle that began last summer when Trump called upon Texas Republicans to redraw House districts to try to give the GOP an advantage in the midterm elections. After Texas acted, California Democrats reciprocated with their own new districts, and a tit-for-tat redistricting clash soon spread among states.
The redistricting fight, so far, has resulted in only a slight edge for Republicans as they try to hold on to their narrow House majority. But voters in Virginia are deciding in an April 21 election whether to authorize a mid-decade redistricting that could help Democrats win several additional seats.
It's uncertain whether all the manipulation of voting district boundaries ultimately will make a difference in which party wins control of the House. The party in power typically loses seats in the midterms, and Trump faces negative approval ratings in polls.
New Missouri map splits up Kansas City district
Missouri currently is represented in the U.S. House by six Republicans and two Democrats under a map passed in 2022 based on the most recent census. At the time, Republican lawmakers turned back an attempt by some in the party to push a map giving Republicans a shot at winning seven seats. They cited concerns that it could spread Republicans too thin and backfire in losses if Democrats enjoyed a favorable election year.
But Republicans set aside those concerns last year under pressure from the White House to revise the districts for partisan advantage.
A new map passed during a September special legislative session was intended to help Republicans win a Kansas City-area seat currently held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. It reassigned portions of Kansas City to two neighboring districts represented by Republicans and stretched the remainder of his 5th Congressional District eastward into Republican-heavy rural areas.
Six Republicans already have filed for a primary seeking to run against Cleaver. The deadline for others to join the race is Tuesday.
The Missouri Supreme Court earlier this week rejected a legal challenge asserting that mid-decade redistricting wasn't allowed under the state constitution. A trial court also recently rejected a legal challenge asserting that the new districts violate constitutional requirements to be compact. Plaintiffs have appealed that case to the state Supreme Court.
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