Hoskins acknowledges 2022 Congressional maps will be used in November, addresses court battles during TPUSA event at MU

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) 

Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins visited the University of Missouri campus Wednesday afternoon for an event hosted by the university’s Turning Point USA chapter.

Hoskins is currently facing several legal battles, including the ongoing fight over Missouri’s congressional maps, in which the Missouri Supreme Court found him in contempt after he directed local election officials to use the 2025 map in violation of the court’s order. The court later found that Hoskins had purged the contempt after reversing course and directing officials to use the 2022 map.

Oral arguments are scheduled for Thursday morning in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals over a Sept. 8 temporary restraining order issued by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark in St. Louis, that blocked the state from using the 2022 congressional map.

“I'm not going to speculate on what exactly the 8th Judicial Circuit does. But what I will say is, as of today, as of right now, the only court order that I have is from the Missouri Supreme Court to use the 2022 maps,” Hoskins told ABC 17 News when asked how confident he was that the state could use the new 2025 congressional maps. “Could that change tomorrow? Well, [it] certainly could, but I'm not going to speculate.” 

Hoskins is also facing a proposed class-action lawsuit from five Missouri voters seeking roughly $80 million. The lawsuit alleges Hoskins violated state law in his handling of a referendum challenging the congressional map. The case seeks to represent roughly 162,000 voters whose signatures on the referendum petition were verified by local election authorities.

On Monday, Hoskins was also sued by Nicholas La Strada, the former director of Election Integrity, who alleges he was fired after “blowing the whistle on fabricated evidence and a decision to overturn a certified election” in Marshall, according to La Strada’s legal team. 

“Obviously, I can't comment on personnel issues or pending litigation, but I'm really, really looking forward to discovery in this case where we can present our side of the facts,” Hoskins told ABC 17 News when asked about allegations of trying to overturn the election results. “The Secretary of State doesn’t certify municipal elections, so there’s no way I can certify a municipal election.” 

Hoskins also addressed each of these court battles during his presentation to students. 

The Secretary of State filed a brief to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday, urging the court to rule that a referendum cannot suspend a congressional map passed by the Legislature and that switching maps after the primary elections violates the U.S. Constitution.

“I don’t think our founding fathers ever meant to have a referendum on a congressional redistricting map, Hoskins said during the event. “The dates don’t make sense. It doesn't make sense that the deadline for me to rule is sufficient or insufficient. Is the same deadline or the same date as our primary election.  And so on August 4th,  I ruled that the referendum was insufficient due to it being unconstitutional.” 

When asked by a student why he waited so long to make a decision on the referendum petition created by voters over the new congressional maps, he said it was because he needed to give election clerks time to verify signatures. 

Hoskins says he was in Dallas last week for the GOP Republican convention when news broke that the courts had ruled the 2022 map was in effect. Shortly afterward, he sent an email to county clerks informing them that the 2022 map was in effect. Hoskins says that about 15 minutes later, he received another email from Judge Clark of the 8th Judicial Circuit informing him that a temporary restraining order was in place. That prompted Hoskins to send a second email directing county clerks to use the 2025map.

“I picked the federal court order, which included a temporary restraining order directing us to use the 2025 map because of the Supremacy Clause,” Hoskins said, explaining the decision that ultimately led to determining he was held in contempt of court for a time. “I still have not been to the GOP convention. I had to leave at 2 o’clock the next day and miss that so I could come back that Wednesday and be in court.

“I've got a federal court order that I'm following, and I got a state court, and I'm either going to federal prison, I can go to federal prison or I go to Cole County Jail. I may be going to jail today; that’s what I’m thinking.” 

But Hoskins was adamant that each step of the way he followed federal court orders. Hoskins also responded to complaints that he is constantly getting sued. 

“We actually looked back at the three secretaries of state before me, and I've been sued less on average per year than the last three Secretaries of State,” Hoskins said. 

His visit comes despite a screenshot being shared on Republican social media accounts that showed an apparent post from YikYak asking “Are they going to Kirk him?” in a likely reference to Charlie Kirk’s assassination at a Turning Point USA event last year. MU responded on Tuesday, saying that they were aware of the post and reported it to MUPD. 

Since Kirk’s death, Turning Point membership has grown across the country, with MU’s Turning Point USA chapter president, Nate Voss, telling ABC 17 News that the group has over 300 members. 

“I originally got involved with Turning Point. U.S. High School. Charlie Kirk was the biggest inspiration to me, so I wanted to do everything because all the videos that I saw on Instagram made me want to get involved,” Vass told ABC 17 News. “His assassination impacted me very greatly. Honestly, it radicalized me as a person. I've been much more involved and much more committed to everything we're doing since the assassination. We put even more work and more effort into getting as many students involved in our movement as possible and just be able to talk with people. That’s what Charlie wanted to do is just talk and have civic dialog.” 

Vass added that they had invited Hoskins to speak before his legal battles with the courts began. 

“He wasn’t getting sued and stuff when we booked him to come, it’s actually great timing for us,” Voss said. “We stand with Denny Hoskins. We stand with the 7 to 1  thing that he's doing. It's incredible. I'm very appreciative.”