Missouri redistricting case returns to Supreme Court again two months before midterms

An anti-gerrymandering group on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower court's order from Tuesday night, mandating Missouri use a GOP redistricting map. 

The case, which is a dispute over whether to use a 2022 map or one redrawn to favor Republicans, now winds through four courts less than two months before the midterms, The Washington Sun reported. 

On Tuesday, a federal judge in Missouri temporarily blocked the state from using its old congressional districts in the midterms. That ruling came just moments after the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a decision from the Missouri Supreme Court ordering the Secretary of State Denny Hoskins to use the 2022 map. 

“The Secretary has made clear that every hour the [temporary restraining order] remains in force, election officials will continue to implement a congressional map that Missouri’s highest court has held is not and never has been law,” attorneys for People Not Politicians wrote in their petition to the Supreme Court.

The case will go through Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the Trump appointee, who handles emergency cases related to Missouri. 

Meanwhile, Hoskins is preparing to defend himself Thursday before the Missouri Supreme Court, which is threatening to hold him in contempt for continuing to push to use the 2025 redistricting map.