Maggard v. State
Missouri Supreme Court ruling of May 2026 on whether a referendum petition suspends HB 1.
Maggard v. State, a May 2026 Missouri Supreme Court ruling on the state's referendum against its 2025 congressional map, became a pillar of the US Supreme Court's 25 September order keeping Missouri on its 2022 districts.
Last refreshed: 1 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Timeline for Maggard v. State
Mentioned in: Justices keep Missouri on its 2022 map
US Midterms 2026Background
Maggard v. State is a decision of the Supreme Court of Missouri, issued in May 2026, on how a referendum petition against a new law affects that law while the vote is pending. The law at issue was HB 1, the congressional map Missouri's legislature drew in 2025.
The ruling sits within Missouri's long-standing citizen-referendum procedure, under which voters can petition to put a newly passed law to a statewide vote. Maggard addressed what happens to a map in the gap between a petition being filed and the people deciding it.
Its significance grew well beyond the state courts. The US Supreme Court relied on its reading of Maggard on 25 September 2026 to explain why Missouri's 2022 map, expected to elect six Republicans and two Democrats, rather than the 2025 map drawn for seven and one, governs the 3 November election.
The ruling now anchors a federal stay
When the US Supreme Court stayed the 8th Circuit's order for Missouri's 2025 map on 25 September 2026, it reached back to Maggard. The justices read the state court's decision as having said the 2025 map, HB 1, would not take effect until voters approved it, at least if the referendum petition against it was legally sufficient.
On that reading, Secretary of State Denny Hoskins had no clear basis for running the August primary on the newer map, and the justices faulted him for doing so. The citation gave a state ruling about referendum procedure a decisive role in a federal fight over which map Missouri's eight House seats are elected on.
What did Maggard v. State decide?
Why did the US Supreme Court cite Maggard v. State?
Which congressional map will Missouri use in November 2026?
