JUST IN: Appeals Court Gives Republicans A Monumental Midterms Victory

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled Monday evening that Missouri must use its 2025 congressional map for the November 3 general election rather than the 2022 map ordered by the Missouri Supreme Court. Republicans are widely projected to gain an extra U.S. House seat under the 2025 map.

The panel directed a federal district court to enter a permanent injunction requiring the 2025 lines, while staying that injunction until 5 pm Central Time on September 28 so the U.S. Supreme Court can review the case. Until then, election officials remain under the 2022 districts.

The 2025 map, which was signed into law by Governor Mike Kehoe after a special legislative session last year, was used in the August 4 primary.. The 2022 map produced a 6–2 Republican–Democrat House delegation, while the 2025 plan is projected as 7–1 because it divides Kansas City among the 4th, 5th, and 6th districts.

Under the older lines, most of the city sat in the 5th District, a compact, heavily Democratic seat held by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver and rated about D +23. The new 5th District keeps a portion of Kansas City and adds Republican-leaning counties to the east, including Lafayette, Johnson, Pettis, and territory reaching Osage and Maries counties. Analysts have described that seat as shifting to about R+17.

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BREAKING: The Eighth Circuit ruled that Missouri must use its 2025 congressional map in November, holding that switching to the 2022 map after the August primary violates the Constitution. The court ordered entry of a permanent injunction, but paused it for one week. pic.twitter.com/gBgpfQWKwI

— SCOTUS Wire (@scotus_wire) September 21, 2026

The ruling follows a federal district court order issued September 8 by Judge Stephen R. Clark in a suit by Rep. Bob Onder (R-MO), Senate candidate Rick Brattin, and two voters. Clark held that using different maps in the primary and general elections would violate Article I, Section 2 and equal protection.

The Eighth Circuit agreed, writing that the right to participate in choosing a member of Congress “requires continuity in the constituency throughout all stages of a single election.” Judges James Loken and Justin Smith joined the majority, while Judge David Stras concurred in part and dissented in part on standing.

The court said the 2025 map had governed candidate filing, campaigning, and the primary for about a year and that changing lines after that point would leave some voters without a complete election in either district. It also said federal law controls over the conflicting state-court order.

That state court order came on September 3, when the Missouri Supreme Court held that a referendum petition filed December 9, 2025 — two days before the 2025 map’s effective date — was legal, sufficient, and timely. Under the state constitution, the court said, the 2025 map never took effect and the 2022 map remains in force unless voters approve the new plan in November.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh declined to stay that ruling on September 8. The U.S. Supreme Court then stayed Clark’s temporary restraining order pending the Eighth Circuit appeal. Monday’s decision completes that appeal and returns the dispute to the high court.

A May 2026 Missouri Supreme Court ruling had separately rejected compactness challenges to the 2025 map.

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