Missouri election map fight races back toward Supreme Court after 1.2M voters cast primary ballots

Missouri’s congressional map fight is hurtling toward another potential Supreme Court showdown, with courts at odds over which districts should govern the November election after more than 1.2 million Missourians voted in the August primary under a different map.

The U.S.

Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled Monday that Missouri must use its 2025 congressional map in November, finding that switching to the state’s 2022 districts after the primary would violate the U.S.

Constitution.

But the appeals court paused its order until Sept.

28, 2026, opening a narrow window for another visit to the U.S.

Supreme Court.

Abhishek Kambli, a partner at Holtzman Vogel and former deputy associate attorney general at the Justice Department, told Fox News Digital the Supreme Court’s previous intervention does not necessarily signal how the justices will handle the latest ruling.

"It’s unpredictable how they’ll rule, mostly because we didn’t get their reasoning in the last order," Kambli said.

"So, we don’t know the precise reason why they decided to stay at that time." ELECTION CHAOS IN THIS RED STATE JUST GOT EVEN STRANGER FOR REPUBLICANS AFTER SUPREME COURT RULING The Supreme Court previously stayed a federal district court's temporary restraining order requiring Missouri to use the 2025 map.

The Eighth Circuit has now directed the lower court to enter a permanent injunction requiring the newer districts, putting the dispute in a different procedural posture.

"So unless the Supreme Court steps in again, the state will be required to use the seven-one map for this election," Kambli said.

Missouri held its Aug.

4, 2026, primary under the 2025 map.