Missouri’s congressional map battle has exploded into a full-blown constitutional crisis, with Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins trapped between directly conflicting orders from the federal and state courts.
Chief U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark will not stop the Missouri Supreme Court from hauling Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins into court Thursday morning over the state’s congressional map fight.
Clark, a Trump appointee, denied Hoskins’ emergency request late Wednesday night.
The secretary of state asked the federal court to enjoin the state high court from proceeding with a 10 a.m. Thursday show-cause hearing after Hoskins followed Clark’s own temporary restraining order and instructed local election officials to use the 2025 GOP-drawn map.
The judge cited comity and federalism. Enjoining a state supreme court before it even holds a hearing, Clark wrote, would be an “extraordinary measure.”
“Numerous considerations counsel this Court against enjoining a state court of last resort, particularly before it even conducts a hearing,” Clark said. “For starters, the Supreme Court of Missouri is a fellow court, and a court of a separate sovereign.”
He added that the Missouri Supreme Court could still decline to hold Hoskins in contempt or delay any ruling while the federal case proceeds. “This Court recognizes the predicament in which Secretary Hoskins finds himself. This Court is confident that the Supreme Court of Missouri does, as well.”
Hoskins is now stuck between two courts issuing opposite commands.
- State case — von Glahn v. Hoskins: The Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the referendum petition suspended the 2025 map under Missouri law. It ordered officials to use the 2022 map unless voters approve the new map.
- Federal case — Onder v. Missouri: Republican candidates and voters argued that changing maps after the August primary would violate federal constitutional rights. Chief U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark ordered officials to use the 2025 map for the November election.
As The Gateway Pundit has reported, the Missouri Supreme Court last week tossed the new “Missouri FIRST” map after the August primary had already been conducted under those lines.
That ruling forced candidates and voters into a last-minute scramble and put the 2025 map itself on the November ballot. President Trump called it a “Dark Day for ‘Justice’ in Missouri” and labeled the decision “horrible, ridiculous, and unConstitutional.” Attorney General Catherine Hanaway called it a full-fledged constitutional crisis.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh then declined Missouri’s emergency application to stay the state court ruling.
Minutes later, Clark issued a 14-day TRO in a separate federal case, blocking use of any map other than the 2025 plan for the general election.
Hoskins certified the November election under the new map, stating Clark’s order “takes precedence.” People Not Politicians, the left-wing group that collected signatures for the referendum to throw out the GOP map, immediately asked the Missouri Supreme Court to hold him in contempt.
On Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court ordered Secretary of State Denny Hoskins to explain why he should not be held in contempt after directing election officials to use the 2025 congressional map despite the court’s injunction.
🚨 The Missouri Supreme Court has ordered Secretary of State Denny Hoskins to explain why he should not be held in contempt for instructing officials to use the 2025 congressional map despite its injunction. Hoskins must appear in person on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/VSTlyqNbQm
— SCOTUS Wire (@scotus_wire) September 9, 2026
The 2025 map, passed 90-65 by the Republican legislature, dismantled the Kansas City gerrymander that has protected Democrat Rep. Emanuel Cleaver and positioned Republicans to hold seven of eight House seats. Primaries already happened. Campaigns already spent money. Voters already chose nominees. Now a handful of judges in Jefferson City want to rewind the tape.
Hoskins has not backed down. “I look forward to my day in court,” he posted, citing the Supremacy Clause. He also warned that “the Show Me State will not be run into the ground like the communists running NYC on my watch.”
A group of Republican state lawmakers has already warned the Missouri Supreme Court that holding Hoskins in contempt could trigger impeachment proceedings against the justices responsible.
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