Background
Missouri enacted new congressional districts in 2025 and used that map for candidate filings and the August 2026 primary election. More than 1.2 million Missourians voted in the primary, including in races won by Representative Robert Onder and candidate Richard Brattin. Meanwhile, Richard von Glahn and People Not Politicians pursued a referendum petition challenging the 2025 redistricting law.
The Missouri Supreme Court ordered the referendum placed on the November ballot and enjoined use of the 2025 map unless voters approved it, which would have returned the state to its 2022 map for the general election. Onder, Brattin, and two voters then sued in federal court, arguing that switching maps between the primary and general elections violated the U.S. Constitution. The district court temporarily required use of the 2025 map, and the Supreme Court stayed that order while the appeal proceeded.
The Court’s Holding
The Eighth Circuit held that using the 2022 map in the November 2026 general election after using the 2025 map in the primary would violate Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution. Because Missouri makes its primary an integral part of choosing members of Congress, the court concluded that the constituency must remain continuous throughout that election process. Switching maps would leave affected voters participating in the primary for one district and the general election for another, preventing them from taking part in the complete selection process for either representative.
The court rejected challenges based on appellate jurisdiction, the three-judge-court statute, adversity, the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, Younger abstention, mootness, and Rule 65(c)’s bond requirement. It also concluded that the Purcell principle favored restoring the 2025 map as the election-cycle status quo. The court declined to decide the Equal Protection and Elections Clause claims, affirmed the temporary restraining order, and remanded for a permanent injunction requiring use of the 2025 map. It directed the district court to stay that injunction until September 28, 2026, at 5 p.m. Central Daylight Time to permit Supreme Court review.
Key Takeaways
- Article I, Section 2 requires continuity in a congressional district’s constituency between the primary and general election when state law makes the primary an integral stage of selecting the representative.
- The Supremacy Clause required the federal constitutional rule to prevail over the conflicting state-law injunction barring use of the 2025 map.
- Judge STRAS agreed that the case presented a probable Article I, Section 2 violation but dissented from reaching the merits because he concluded that the intervenors lacked appellate standing.
Why It Matters
The decision prevents Missouri from changing congressional district boundaries midway through the 2026 election process. The court reasoned that using different maps would deny many voters a role in selecting the nominees appearing on their general-election ballots and would disrupt campaigns conducted for roughly a year under the 2025 districts.
The ruling also addresses the interaction between federal constitutional protections, state referendum procedures, and the principle against late judicial changes to election rules. Unless stayed or altered by the Supreme Court, the permanent injunction requires Missouri election officials and those acting in concert with them to implement the 2025 map for the November 3, 2026 general election.