Group seeking to overturn new Missouri congressional map responds to AG lawsuit
Alison Patton
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
People Not Politicians’ lawyer claims a referendum on the new congressional map passed by the Missouri legislature is protected under state law.
This comes after Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway filed a lawsuit in a federal court on Wednesday to block the referendum from getting on the November 2026 ballot.
The new congressional map is likely to cut out a Missouri Democrat from the U.S. House of Representatives. Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe signed the map into law Sept. 28, labeling it “Missouri First.”
Missouri is one of several red states where President Donald Trump has pushed Republican-friendly redistricting plans to boost the party’s House majority.
Attorney Chuck Hatfield, who is representing the group, said the legal battle hinges on the words “An act of the General Assembly,” which are written in the bill authorising a new congressional map and in the referendum law.
Hanaway argues in the lawsuit that the U.S. Constitution gives the Missouri legislature the sole power to redistrict the state, and the referendum takes away that power.
“The Constitution entrusts congressional redistricting to the people’s elected legislature, not to activist organizations bankrolled by undisclosed donors,” Hanaway wrote in a statement released Wednesday. “If allowed to proceed, this effort would destroy faith in our elections and set a dangerous precedent where outside interests could override constitutional order.”
Secretary of State Denny Hoskins approved People Not Politicians’ petition for circulation this week after initially rejecting the forms submitted last month. Hoskins said in his approval that signatures gathered earlier are no longer valid — something People Not Politicians claims is not correct.
People Not Politicians is asking for an injunction with a hearing by Nov. 15 to stop the state from implementing the new map.
Several lawsuits have been filed to overturn the new congressional district map.
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