Missouri Republicans spent more than a year fighting to put a new congressional map into effect, including a costly campaign to prevent voters from having the final say.
Now that voters have that say, the organized Republican campaign to defend the map has all but vanished.
On Nov. 3, Missourians will decide Proposition A, a referendum on a redistricting plan passed last year at President Donald Trump’s urging to improve Republicans’ chances of winning seven of Missouri’s eight seats in the U.S. House. A “yes” vote approves the new map; a “no” vote rejects it and keeps the boundaries adopted in 2022.
Neither outcome will change the congressional districts used in this year’s election. After a prolonged legal fight, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Missouri to use its 2022 map in November. Proposition A will instead determine which boundaries apply beginning with the 2028 election, barring another redistricting effort.
The campaign to defeat Proposition A is pouring money into advertising and voter outreach. People Not Politicians, which collected the signatures that forced the referendum, has reported $5.4 million in contributions of at least $5,000 each since mid September.
Put Missouri First, meanwhile, spent about $2.9 million trying to block the referendum but has reported no large donations since July.
Michael Hafner, a spokesman for Put Missouri First, said the hope is that “Missourians will tune out the noise and look beyond the millions of dollars in advertising” and support the map drawn by lawmakers last year.
“Prop A deserves Missourians’ support because it delivers a practical, commonsense map that respects more community boundaries throughout our state,” he told The Independent.
But while Republicans continue hoping voters will approve the map, Hafner told St. Louis Public Radio there is currently no organized effort to support the passage of Proposition A. Instead, the GOP is investing money and resources in other races.
“The left has allocated significant funds into defeating the map,” he said, “and Republicans nationally have other fish to fry.”
Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, who fought unsuccessfully to keep the referendum off the ballot, said he remains firmly behind the new congressional boundaries. He acknowledged the competition for campaign dollars and public attention but said he believes supporters of the map are organizing at the grassroots level.
“While they might not be the loudest or most well funded,” he said, “I believe they are a formidable force and their efforts will be worthwhile on election night.”
A fight over Kansas City
At the center of the dispute is Kansas City and the 5th Congressional District, represented since 2005 by Democrat Emanuel Cleaver.
Under the 2022 map, most of Kansas City lies in a district contained within Jackson and Clay counties. The 2025 boundaries would divide much of the city among three districts, combining its neighborhoods with Republican-leaning communities stretching into northern and central Missouri and the Ozarks.
The result would change the 5th District from one Kamala Harris carried with about 61% of the vote in 2024 to one Trump carried with about 58% — potentially converting one of Missouri’s two Democratic congressional seats into a seventh Republican seat.
Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians, argues the proposal would weaken the voices of Kansas City residents while tying rural voters to distant urban neighborhoods for partisan gain. He noted that one dividing line follows Troost Avenue, long associated with racial segregation in Kansas City.
“It targets Kansas City,” von Glahn said during an interview on The Independent’s Missouri on the Record podcast. “But the harm is really statewide when politicians start manipulating elections and rearranging voters on the map.”
Republican supporters counter that the map improves on several traditional redistricting measures. In May, the Missouri Supreme Court upheld the map against a separate constitutional challenge concerning compactness and population equality.
Ordinarily, states redraw congressional districts once every decade after the federal census. Missouri Republicans undertook a second redraw in September 2025 amid a national partisan battle over control of the U.S. House. Republicans pushed new boundaries in states including Texas, while Democrats sought advantages elsewhere, including California.
People Not Politicians responded with more than 300,000 petition signatures. Hoskins refused to certify the referendum, arguing the congressional map could not be subjected to a statewide vote.
The Missouri Supreme Court unanimously rejected that position Sept. 3, ordering the referendum onto the ballot and ruling that the new districts had never legally taken effect. After additional litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded Sept. 25 that the 2022 districts must govern November’s election.
Millions spent on both sides
The money battle began long before the referendum qualified. National groups aligned with both parties supplied millions of dollars, including contributions through political nonprofits that do not disclose their underlying donors.
Von Glahn said volunteers and anger over an unusual mid-decade redraw propelled the petition drive, though he acknowledged the campaign could not operate without substantial financial backing.
An August Saint Louis University/YouGov survey illustrated the challenge of explaining the vote. With ballot wording presented to respondents, 35% favored Proposition A, 32% opposed it and 33% were unsure.
The official ballot description emphasizes that the new map would keep more counties intact. It does not mention the plan’s potential to give Republicans another congressional seat.
Von Glahn said his campaign has to explain the referendum’s unusual mechanics: People Not Politicians sponsored the petition, but it is asking voters to mark “no.”
Another redistricting fight ahead?
Even if voters reject Proposition A, the battle over Missouri’s congressional districts may not be over.
Minutes after the Missouri Supreme Court ruled against the new map, Republican state Sen. Nick Schroer posted “8-0 2027” on social media, signaling interest in a map that could give the GOP all eight congressional seats. Hoskins has said he could “most certainly” see lawmakers revisiting redistricting next year.
Whether Republicans could succeed may depend on another Nov. 3 ballot measure. Amendment 6 would prohibit lawmakers from passing legislation “similar in effect” to a law rejected by referendum unless at least 80% of both the House and Senate agree to send it back to voters for approval.
Travis Crum, a Washington University law professor who studies election law, said another Republican redraw before the 2030 census would likely trigger that restriction if voters reject Proposition A and approve Amendment 6. But the amendment does not define “similar in effect,” meaning another redistricting effort could end up back in court.
Even without Amendment 6, the state Supreme Court’s ruling means voters could use the referendum process again to suspend a new congressional map. Von Glahn said he hopes lawmakers instead take a rejection of Proposition A as a signal to move on to other issues.
“Unfortunately, we can’t stop legislators from bringing up bad ideas,” he said.
For now, von Glahn said, the argument against the new map is one that should resonate across party lines.
“People should pick our politicians,” he said. “Politicians shouldn’t pick their voters.”
This story was originally published by the Missouri Independent.
