Democrats received some good news on the redistricting front Thursday, with a pair of favorable rulings from the supreme courts of Missouri and Maryland. In Missouri, the state’s high court blocked the use of a new Republican-drawn congressional map this November, overturning a lower court ruling and setting up a fall vote on the proposed new lines. And in Maryland, the justices ruled that a constitutional amendment proposal that would clear the way for state Democrats to redraw Maryland’s congressional lines ahead of the 2028 elections could appear on the November ballot, overturning two lower court decisions. The decisions come toward the tail end of an election cycle that has seen several states, most of them Republican-led, redraw their House maps, a push that began at the urging of President Donald Trump and that picked up steam following a spring U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Those efforts have helped keep Republicans in the fight for control of the House in a year when voters appear frustrated by the high cost of living and the Iran war and Trump’s favorability has dropped. In a unanimous ruling from Missouri, the court directed Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, a Republican, to place the new map on the November ballot before Tuesday, which is the deadline for the state to finalize the general election ballot. “The congressional redistricting the General Assembly established in 2022 remains in full force and effect for the November 2026 general election,” the court wrote, referring to Missouri’s House map used in the 2022 and 2024 elections. The ruling is a blow to Republicans, who were likely to pick up a seat under the new map, which was redrawn to give them an advantage in seven of the state’s eight House districts. It’s also a boon to Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, who faced an uphill climb to reelection under the new contours of his 5th District, which Trump would have carried by 18 points in 2024. Republicans are expected to appeal the decision in federal court. “Missouri Republicans followed the law. We’re evaluating all options, and we are confident we will ultimately be successful,” Zach Bannon, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement. Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said on social media that her office would “move immediately to seek relief from SCOTUS.” “Never before in American history has a court overturned a congressional map after a primary and before a general election,” she said. “This unprecedented decision clearly violates federal law and has thrust our state into a full‑fledged constitutional crisis.” Missouri held primary elections last month under the new map, and Thursday’s ruling did not directly address how candidates for the general election would be determined, just two months before Election Day. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court would test the justices’ partisanship. “The United States Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Virginia Supreme Court in May,” he said, referring to a Virginia ruling that blocked the use of a Democrat-drawn and voter-approved congressional map in the commonwealth. “We are watching closely to determine if they apply the same standard here, or choose to do the bidding of the Republican Party again.” Chuck Hatfield, a lawyer for People Not Politicians, the group that brought the lawsuit, told reporters Thursday night that the Missouri Board of Canvassers had certified each district’s primary nominees last week. “We’re going to hold elections on the correct maps, which are the ‘24 maps, with the nominees that we have, unless the secretary takes some other action regarding those nominees,” he said. “But no matter what he decides to do, he’s using the correct maps, which are not House Bill 1,” he added, referring to the legislation that established the new map. Maryland referendum stays on ballot While the Maryland Supreme Court ruled that the constitutional amendment could appear on the November ballot, the justices agreed with the lower courts that the language used in the amendment was “misleading” and directed the State Board of Elections to rewrite it. Still, the ruling was a victory for Democrats, who hope to redraw the Maryland map to favor their party in all eight of the state’s House districts. Democrats currently hold seven seats, with Rep. Andy Harris the lone Republican in the state delegation. “This is a victory for democracy in Maryland where — in contrast to Republicans enacting egregious mid-decade gerrymanders against the will of the people — the people of the Free State will have the opportunity to weigh in on redistricting at the ballot box this November," John Bisognano, president of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, said in a statement. Some Maryland Democrats had sought to revisit the state’s congressional map earlier this year, but the effort stalled in the state Senate, where Bill Ferguson, the chamber’s top Democrat, opposed the effort. But after the U.S. Supreme Court’s spring ruling that led to a handful of Southern states approving new maps that eliminated majority-Black districts, Ferguson appeared to have a change of heart. The Maryland legislature met for a special session earlier this summer to approve the constitutional amendment, which voters are now poised to weigh in on.
