24SEP

Missouri voters repeal 2025 House map

1 min read

11:45UTC

Missouri voters rejected Proposition A by 61.83% to 38.17%, repealing the mid-decade congressional map that split Kansas City and targeted the Democratic-held 5th District.

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Key takeaway

Missouri voters repealed the 2025 congressional map, keeping the 2022 lines for future elections.

Missouri voters rejected Missouri Proposition A by 1,278,507 votes (61.83%) to 789,236 (38.17%) with 95% of precincts reporting, on Ballotpedia's unofficial table on Wednesday 4 November⁠¹. A No vote repeals House Bill 1 (HB 1), the congressional map Republicans passed in a 2025 special session and Governor Mike Kehoe signed on 28 September 2025. States normally redraw district lines once a decade, after the census; HB 1 was a mid-decade redraw that split Kansas City across several districts and targeted the Democratic-held 5th.

The Supreme Court of Missouri suspended the map in September and sent it to voters, and the US Supreme Court then kept Missouri on its 2022 map for this election. The referendum settles what the courts left open. Trump carried Missouri, yet 61.83% of its voters rejected the map his party drew, and the repeal keeps the 2022 lines, with the 5th in its 2022 shape, for future elections too.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Every US state draws the boundaries of its districts for the US House of Representatives, usually once a decade after the national census. In 2025 Missouri's Republican-led legislature drew a new map early, which split Kansas City between several districts. Opponents gathered signatures to put the map to a public vote, called a referendum. On 3 November voters rejected it by a wide margin, so Missouri will keep the district lines it drew in 2022.

Deep Analysis

Root Causes

Missouri lets citizens force a referendum on a new law, and a valid referendum petition suspends the law until voters decide. the Supreme Court of Missouri applied that rule to HB 1 in September, which is why the 2025 map never governed an election.

The US Supreme Court then kept Missouri on its 2022 map for this election, so the referendum was the only remaining route by which the 2025 lines could take effect.

What could happen next?

Precedent
A referendum overturned a mid-decade congressional redraw, giving opponents of such redraws in other states with referendum rights a tested route.
Consequence
Missouri's Democratic-held 5th District keeps its 2022 shape for future elections.

Sources:Ballotpedia

Mentions:Missouri Proposition A →Mike Kehoe →Ballotpedia →Kansas City →Supreme Court of Missouri →Supreme Court of the United States →House of Representatives →Ohio →California →Proposition 50 →Democratic Party →HB 1 →Missouri →

First Reported In

Update #23 · Democrats take the Senate and the House

Ballotpedia· 5 Nov 2026

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Causes and effects

Caused by

Missouri map suspended, sent to voters

Missouri's Supreme Court suspended HB 1 and sent it to the referendum voters rejected.

Occurred 3 Sept 2026

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Justices keep Missouri on its 2022 map

The US Supreme Court kept Missouri on its 2022 map for this election before voters repealed HB 1.

Occurred 25 Sept 2026

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This Event

Missouri voters repeal 2025 House map

Missouri voters undid a mid-decade redraw by referendum, keeping the 2022 congressional lines in place for future elections.

Different Perspectives

University of Florida Election Lab

The lab, run by Michael McDonald, estimates about 124.3 million ballots, a raw midterm record, and turnout of about 49.4% of eligible voters, second to 2018's 50.05%. The raw record reflects population growth more than a record rate, so the late count is working through a near-2018 electorate.

Thune's critics on the right, including Senator Ron Johnson

Ron Johnson backed the failed 31-15 motion to delay Thune's re-election, after activists such as Mike Cernovich blamed the leader for the defeat. Their complaint is that Republicans could have passed the SAVE Act; in January it meets a Democratic Senate instead.

Senator John Thune

Thune was re-elected Senate Republican leader by acclamation on 10 November after a motion to delay failed 31-15. He kept the filibuster that stopped the SAVE Act, the choice his critics on the right blame for the defeat.

House Republicans under Jim Jordan

House Republicans elected Jordan minority leader by 106 votes to 73 over Steve Scalise on 10 November, after Speaker Mike Johnson declined to run. They replaced the leadership that lost the majority, while Senate Republicans kept theirs.

Donald Trump

Trump asked on Truth Social on 9 November whether anybody believed the election "was honest" and blamed the machines, having told The New York Times on polling night he would accept the results. No Republican campaign had sued over a 2026 result by 10 November, so the claim has no case behind it.

Judge David O. Carter

Carter closed the Justice Department's suit over about 20,000 California mail ballots on 10 November after the department withdrew it, writing that the suit "attempted to disrupt an ongoing election". The closure leaves the department with no court order touching a 2026 California ballot.

Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Editorial standards.