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 the “Missouri First” 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.”
Hatfield said he’s confident the court will side with People Not Politicians.
“Federal judges take an oath to uphold the Constitution, and we expect them to do that,” Hatfield said. “I think when we get our day in court and have the opportunity to lay out the arguments, they’re going to see that the attorney general is wrong.”
The Attorney General Office wrote in an email Thursday that this lawsuit keeps restricting in the hands of elected officials.
“The Missouri Constitution and the U.S. Constitution vest the authority for congressional redistricting in the General Assembly, not activist organizations funded by outside interests,” the Attorney General’s Office wrote in an email.
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 Hoskins said in his approval that signatures gathered earlier are no longer valid — something People Not Politicians claims is not correct.
Federal Judge Zachary Bluestone, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in May, is set to hear the case.
The state is asking the court for a hearing on or before Nov. 15, and a preliminary injunction to stop the referendum in its tracks.
Several lawsuits have been filed to overturn the new congressional district map.