Missouri Freedom Caucus leaders are preparing a new push for judicial reform after a Missouri Supreme Court decision forced the state to use its 2022 congressional map for the upcoming November elections, overriding a Republican-backed 2025 map and triggering legal and political turmoil.
Explainer The Voting Rights Act: Judicial Battles Over Race and Redistricting
The dispute centers on whether the state should use a map approved by the legislature and Governor Mike Kehoe in September 2025, which would have shifted Missouri from six Republican and two Democrat districts to seven Republican and one Democrat. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled on September 3 that a referendum on the new map must appear on the fall ballot, blocking the 2025 map from being used in the meantime. GOP Secretary of State Denny Hoskins had previously rejected the referendum petition, arguing the state constitution does not allow such a vote on congressional redistricting, but the court found otherwise.
The ruling has heightened partisan tensions in Missouri, with Republicans arguing the court's decision disrupts the election process and undermines legislative authority, while Democrats and activists say it upholds voter rights to challenge redistricting plans.
Fallout From the Supreme Court Ruling
After the Missouri Supreme Court's decision, Hoskins and other state officials sought emergency relief from the U.S. Supreme Court, warning that the ruling would force primary winners to compete in different districts for the general election. Justice Brett Kavanaugh denied the request without explanation on September 8. Meanwhile, Chief District Judge Stephen Clark issued a temporary restraining order in a separate case, directing the state to use the 2025 map, but this was soon paused by the U.S. Supreme Court, leaving the 2022 map in place for the midterms.
Missouri Freedom Caucus Chair and State Sen. Nick Schroer criticized the court's intervention, calling the 2025 map "a more constitutionally sound map than what the legislature passed in 2022," and labeling the 2022 map "gerrymandered." Schroer argued the newer map was more compact and kept communities together, a point he said was overlooked by media coverage.
"You look at the different counties that it cuts in half versus what we did, putting a lot of these communities back together, more compact, more contiguous. The news media is not talking about that."
— Nick Schroer, Missouri Freedom Caucus Chair
Freedom Caucus Reform Agenda
In response to the court's actions, the Missouri Freedom Caucus is considering legislation to overhaul the state's judicial selection process. The group is also signaling support for an "eight-zero map"—a congressional map with no Democratic districts—citing the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Louisiana v. Callais decision, which limits race-based redistricting.
Schroer pointed to the state's only minority-majority district in St. Louis, currently held by Wesley Bell and formerly by Cori Bush, as likely to be affected by these changes. He said, "With the Voting Rights Act being modified here recently, ... that’s going to have to be modified."
The caucus is also targeting the "Missouri Plan," a merit-based judicial selection system adopted in 1940, which relies on a nominating commission to recommend candidates for state judgeships. State Rep. Darin Chappell introduced a constitutional amendment earlier this year to give the state Senate confirmation power over Supreme Court and Court of Appeals nominees, but the measure failed to advance. MOFC member and State Rep. Burt Whaley said the recent court decision could provide new momentum for the proposal, stating, "I think it’s going to have a whole lot more meaning this time because we’ve seen what the Missouri Supreme Court has chosen to do."
Legal and Political Repercussions
The Missouri Supreme Court also found Secretary Hoskins in civil contempt for initially following Judge Clark's order to use the 2025 map, but ruled he had purged the contempt by switching to the 2022 map after the U.S. Supreme Court's intervention. On Friday, a coalition of Missouri voters who supported the referendum petition filed a lawsuit against Hoskins, seeking an estimated $80 million in damages over his handling of the redistricting process.
Whaley defended Hoskins, calling him "very courageous [and] very tenacious," and questioned how many secretaries of state would have endured the same scrutiny.
Democratic leaders and activists have welcomed the court's decision to allow a referendum, arguing it preserves voters' rights to weigh in on redistricting. Missouri officials have not yet commented on whether they will support further judicial reforms or changes to the Missouri Plan.
The Missouri Freedom Caucus is expected to renew its push for judicial and redistricting reforms in the next legislative session, as the state prepares for a contentious general election under the court-mandated 2022 map.
