Judge sides with Hoskins, Republican groups in congressional map lawsuit
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Missouri Constitution does not allow citizens to challenge congressional maps approved by legislators through a ballot measure, a Cole County judge ruled Wednesday.
People Not Politicians went head-to-head with Secretary of State Denny Hoskins and an attorney representing the Republican National Committee in a Cole County courtroom Wednesday to determine whether a referendum challenging the 2025 congressional map can go on the November ballot.
Judge Daniel Green ruled for Hoskins and the Republicans a few hours later.
The state argued that state and federal law prohibits a referendum on a map, it's too late to change the districts voters are tied to for the November election and that Missouri lawmakers were within their rights to redistrict mid-decade.
"Plaintiff Richard von Glahn’s Petition is, frankly, crazy," the Missouri Attorney General's Office stated in a pretrial filing. "Von Glahn says he cares about democracy. But then, his Petition alleges that approximately 3.3% of Missouri voters can temporarily repeal a duly enacted congressional map — even before the People vote."
In court, Solicitor General Louis Capozzi argued that changing the districts after millions of Missourians voted in the August primary could be chaotic and confusing for voters. Especially when voters selected candidates using the 2025 map.
If the referendum is certified, it would have required the state to use the 2022 congressional districts until voters can weigh in on it. Capozzi argued that could open more cases where people try to overturn or freeze congressional districts.
"Every time Missouri redistricts, the minority political party will easily be able to freeze the redistricting map and force the state to temporarily use the old map," Capozzi said.
Richard von Glahn is the executive director of People Not Politicians, the group that has backed the referendum on the 2025 congressional map since the special session on redistricting last fall. The Missouri General Assembly's Republican supermajority passed the map at the urging of the Trump administration, seeking to flip the Fifth District held by Democrat Emanuel Cleaver in Kansas City.
The group is asking Cole County Judge Daniel Green to overturn the secretary of state's rejection of their referendum. They're also hoping for a speedy trial Wednesday, and with any appeals following, because the last day to add anything to the November ballot is Sept. 8.
In court Wednesday, their attorney Chuck Hatfield argued Missouri law allows a referendum on any act of the legislature, and House Bill 1, the law establishing the new map, calls it so.
"I don't know how we can say that the Missouri Constitution doesn't authorize a referendum on this act of the General Assembly," Hatfield said.
The Republican National Committee, along with two other Republican political action committees, has also joined the battle, siding with Hoskins.
The trial was supposed to happen Tuesday, but it was pushed to Wednesday at 10 a.m. to allow the attorney representing the Republican PACs, John Gore, to come out from Washington, D.C., to make the trial.
Because the deadline to add anything to the November ballot is fast approaching, Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Brent Powell has asked Green to ensure he delivers a speedy trial. Powell expects this lawsuit to end up in the high court.
The state and Republican groups have made it a point to argue that the clock is ticking, and any changes to the November ballot or maps could be confusing to voters.
