Congressional candidates Onder, Brattin seek to overturn Missouri Supreme Court map decision
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Missouri Supreme Court decided that a referendum challenging the 2025 "Missouri FIRST" map will go on the November ballot. That decision also means the general election must be held under the old map passed in 2022.
At least two lawsuits have been filed challenging parts of this decision and take it from the state's highest court to federal court. Attorney General Catherine Hanaway filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court, and she asks Justice Brett Kavanaugh to stay the decision and allow the November election to be held under the 2025 map.
In a separate lawsuit, U.S. Rep. Bob Onder, state Sen. Rick Brattin and two Missouri voters have sued the Secretary of State in the Eastern District of Missouri. This lawsuit seeks to change which map is used in November. Both lawmakers would represent different locations based on the map.
"When you put in all this blood, sweat, tears, the time, all of this campaigning, yeah, it's really disenfranchising when you've done all that, and those people have believed in you and trusted you and cast their vote for you, to then say they're going to go to the ballot box and be voting in a completely different district," Brattin said.
Onder is running again for District 3, and Brattin is running for District 5 — which is currently held by Democrat Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. They claim the old map hurts their chances of winning because they campaigned in a different district geographically.
"Under von Glahn, they must now run in the general election in districts which include many voters to whom they did not campaign in the primary," attorney Marc Ellinger wrote in court documents.
Ellinger argues that the referendum on congressional redistricting violates the U.S. Constitution, the election clause and the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause.
The voters Pat Thomas and Debra Havens argue they are harmed by using the 2022 map in the November election because they already voted under the old map.
"Thomas and Havens wish to vote in the general election in the Fifth Congressional district as they did in the primary but must now educate themselves about new candidates and issues because they are forced to vote in the general election for the Third Congressional district and for nominees whom they was not given a chance to vote for or against," Ellinger wrote.
The group is suing Secretary Denny Hoskins because he administers the election process, including the maps.
People Not Politicians, the group backing the referendum, will need to defend the ballot measure at the U.S. Supreme Court, too.
"It won't take SCOTUS that long to understand that this case is not in their purview, is inappropriate to be there and dismiss it," executive director Richard von Glahn said.
Justice Kavanaugh has asked People Not Politicians to file a response to the state's appeal and request to stay the decision by Monday at 11 a.m.
In December, the state filed a lawsuit against the group in federal court with Judge Zachary Bluestone, who dismissed the case because the federal court didn't have jurisdiction over the lawsuit dealing with state law.
Brattin said he is confident that the state will prevail at the Supreme Court.
