The Supreme Court dealt Republicans an unusual setback in the nationwide redistricting fight on Tuesday. Justice Brett Kavanaugh on Tuesday refused to reinstate a new GOP-drawn congressional map that was expected to give Republicans a strong chance at flipping a Democratic seat this November, the Washington Post reports. His order left the state's older map in place. But moments after the court declined to take up an emergency appeal of last week's Missouri Supreme Court ruling, a federal judge in Missouri temporarily blocked the state from using anything but the new map backed by Republicans, reports the AP.
Kavanaugh's order also cleared the way for Missouri voters to weigh in directly: a November referendum can go forward on whether to adopt the new GOP-friendly map for future elections. Kavanaugh handled the case because he deals with urgent matters involving the 8th Circuit, which includes Missouri and six other states. He did not explain the decision. The case grew out of a push by President Trump, who urged Missouri Republicans to redraw districts to oust Kansas City Democrat Emanuel Cleaver. An anti-gerrymandering group, People Not Politicians, gathered more than 300,000 signatures to force the referendum, triggering a legal fight with Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins over whether such a vote was allowed.
The new map was used in the state's primaries last month. In his appeal to the Supreme Court, Hoskins argued that a "federal-election-administration disaster is unfolding in Missouri," saying "hundreds of thousands of voters will be forcibly switched to new districts and forced to vote on General Election candidates they had no role in choosing." He warned that the state could face "unprecedented chaos," though Democrats argued that Hoskins intentionally caused disruption by delaying his decision on the redistricting referendum, Politico reports.
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