Missouri 5th District

The U.S. Supreme Court has halted a temporary restraining order issued this week that only allowed Secretary of State Denny Hoskins to use a Trump-backed map lawmakers drew in 2025.

Instead of defending the state high court’s ruling that a referendum on redistricting means using the congressional map from 2024, Catherine Hanaway’s office is asking for a reversal.

The Missouri Supreme Court's ruling means the congressional map from 2022 will be in place for the November general election, giving longtime Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II a stronger chance to keep his seat.

Missouri's candidates are set for the November general election under a redrawn congressional map. But with Kansas City's three districts carved to specifically benefit Republicans, even longtime U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II faces a tough race.

Missouri voters now look to the November election that will determine whether the redrawn 5th Congressional District nets Republicans another seat in Congress, or if Kansas City's longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II will keep his seat.

All but one of the six candidates running in the primary to unseat U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II live outside the newly-redrawn 5th District. Members of Congress only have to live in the state they represent, but residing outside their district can be a political liability.

The Missouri Supreme Court has confirmed a redrawn congressional map that takes aim at the state’s 5th District, a longtime Democratic stronghold. Incumbent Congressman Emanuel Cleaver now prepares for a slate of new challengers to his seat.

All of Cleaver's past elections have been in his Kansas City backyard. This time, because Republican lawmakers gerrymandered the 5th congressional district, he’s facing the prospect of having to stump for votes from Troost Avenue all the way to Columbia.

The Republican-drawn congressional map divides Kansas City into three districts, and lumps the urban core with rural communities 200 miles away. While the map was upheld by a Jackson County judge, multiple other lawsuits against Missouri's mid-decade redistricting have yet to be decided.

If the court strikes down the new map, Missouri's congressional lines would revert to the prior map — which keeps the bulk of Kansas City within one district.

People Not Politicians filed open-records requests to review the collected signatures and says the minimum number required for a statewide referendum should be validated by the Missouri secretary of state.

Missouri state Sen. Rick Brattin, of Harrisonville, is running for the 5th congressional district even though he does not currently live there. The Kansas City-area race is attracting a big list of Republican hopefuls because it was redrawn to include rural areas hundreds of miles away.