Republicans cave on GOP-drawn map scheme just before court holds official in contempt

Missouri's secretary of state and attorney general abandoned their defiance of a state Supreme Court order blocking a Republican-drawn congressional map, less than an hour before a contempt hearing.

Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins told local election authorities in a 12:34 p.m. email Thursday that the congressional map state lawmakers passed in 2022 will govern the Nov. 3 general election, according to a copy posted by KSDK political editor Mark Maxwell.

Republican Attorney General Catherine Hanaway backed the directive in a statement her office released the same afternoon.

"In accordance with that order, my Office is directing local election authorities to use the 2022 congressional map," Hoskins wrote in the email, referring to the state court's ruling.

"We respect and will continue to comply with all court decisions, including orders issued by the Supreme Court of Missouri," Hanaway said in the statement.

Hanaway's office also filed a last-minute letter with the Missouri Supreme Court on Thursday, telling the judges that Hoskins intended to comply with their injunction, according to a copy of the letter. But the concession was only made after a judge threatened Hoskins and Hanaway at a hearing earlier in the morning and warned them to remain near the courthouse.

"The congressional map passed by the General Assembly in 2022 shall govern the upcoming General Election," Hanaway wrote, using the formal name for the state legislature.

The reversal came less than an hour before the court was scheduled to reconvene at 2 p.m. and decide whether to hold Hoskins in contempt, St. Louis Public Radio reported.

Earlier that morning, judges pressed a lawyer from Hanaway's office on whether Hoskins would follow the ruling, the station reported. William Seidleck of the attorney general's office said only that Hoskins acknowledged the injunction was in effect.

"Options are being carefully evaluated, of course, with respect to the appeals before the Eighth Circuit," Seidleck told the court, the outlet reported. He was referring to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where the state's appeal remains pending.

"What else is there to be considered other than the fact that our injunction, which has never not been in effect, is still fully in effect?" Judge Paul Wilson asked, according to the station.

Before adjourning, Chief Justice W. Brent Powell told Hoskins not to "venture far from Jefferson City" until the contempt motion is resolved, the outlet reported. The court had ordered him to attend the hearing in person.

Hours earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court had paused a federal judge's order that would have forced Missouri to use the newer map. The justices offered no explanation and noted no dissents, Roll Call reported.

"It's done and dusted," Chuck Hatfield, an attorney for People Not Politicians, told St. Louis Public Radio. His group gathered the petition signatures that set off the fight and asked the justices to intervene.

Hoskins had spent the week resisting the state court's ruling. U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday that appeared to require the newer map, Law Dork reported.

Hoskins' elections division then told local officials that the federal ruling outranked the state one under the Supremacy Clause, the constitutional provision making federal law superior to state law, according to the same report.

Opponents of the newer map asked the Missouri Supreme Court to hold him in contempt, and the judges ordered him to explain himself and appear in person, according to their show cause order.

Hoskins also asked Clark to block the state court from holding him in contempt at all. Clark refused, writing that enjoining a state court of last resort is an extraordinary step.

Opponents filed petition signatures on Dec. 9, 2025, two days before the map was to take effect, and the Missouri Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Sept. 3 that the map was suspended and never became law, the Missouri Independent reported.

Voters will decide the map's fate in November.

"HB 1 is not the law and has never been the law," Judge Ginger Gooch wrote for the court, using the bill number for the 2025 map.

Missouri Republicans drew the newer map in 2025 at President Donald Trump's urging, part of a national effort to redraw House districts before the midterms.

It would have shifted the state's delegation from six Republicans and two Democrats to seven and one by targeting the Kansas City seat held by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), CNN reported.

The appeals court set an expedited schedule Thursday, ordering simultaneous briefs by Sept. 15 and remote oral argument on Sept. 17.