Missouri judge hands Trump, GOP major redistricting win ahead of midterm elections
A Missouri judge handed President Donald Trump and Republicans a major redistricting victory Wednesday, ruling that the state's referendum process cannot be used to challenge congressional maps drawn by the Legislature and allowing a new GOP-friendly map to remain in place for November's midterm elections.
Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green ruled Wednesday that Missouri's constitutional referendum provisions "do not apply to congressional redistricting enacted by the General Assembly," siding with Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins in a closely watched fight over a Trump-backed map that could help determine control of the U.S. House.
Green also ruled that Hoskins' decision not to certify the referendum petition was "lawful" and ordered that the Republican-backed congressional map "remains in full force and effect for the 2026 general election."
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Plaintiff Richard von Glahn appealed the ruling Wednesday evening, according to the court docket.
The ruling preserves a map passed by Missouri's Republican-led Legislature after Trump urged GOP-controlled states to redraw congressional boundaries ahead of the 2026 midterms.
The new boundaries are aimed at giving Republicans an opportunity to defeat Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City. Missouri's current eight-member House delegation consists of six Republicans and two Democrats.
The map splits portions of Kansas City between neighboring Republican-held districts and stretches the remainder of Cleaver's 5th Congressional District east into Republican-heavy rural areas. About 59% of voters in the reshaped district are new to it, according to an Associated Press estimate.
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Republican state Sen. Rick Brattin won the GOP primary in the redrawn district earlier this month, while Cleaver was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
The new boundaries were already used in Missouri's August primaries.
Opponents collected thousands of signatures seeking to force a statewide referendum on the map, but Hoskins rejected the petition, arguing that Missouri's Constitution does not allow congressional redistricting to be put to a referendum.
Green agreed, entering judgment for Hoskins and the Republican National Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee and Missouri Republican State Committee, which intervened in the case.
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The Missouri fight is part of a broader national redistricting battle ahead of November.
Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe called lawmakers into a special session last year after Trump urged Republican-led states to redraw congressional boundaries ahead of the midterms.
Missouri became the second Republican-led state, after Texas, to pursue new congressional boundaries as part of that push.
Green's ruling leaves the Trump-backed map in place while the case moves to the appeals court.
The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.