Missouri elections 2026

This week, petitioners challenging Missouri's gerrymandered new congressional map submitted 305,000 signatures seeking to halt the law and put it up for a statewide vote. That's more than twice as many as needed. But a whole tangle of legal challenges lay ahead.

Opponents of Missouri's gerrymandered congressional map just submitted more than 305,000 signatures to force a vote on the plan. Secretary of State Denny Hoskins still has the chance to reject a referendum, but legal experts don't expect that move to succeed in court.

Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected 90,000 signatures for a referendum on the newly redrawn congressional map, because they were collected before Gov. Mike Kehoe had signed the map into law. But the group People Not Politicians argues that the signatures are valid.

Republicans are on track to pick up an extra seat in Missouri during the 2026 elections after gerrymandering the state's congressional districts. However, a ballot petition campaign could halt and potentially overturn the map.

Abortion may be legal again in Missouri, but only 80 elective abortions have been performed in the year since Amendment 3 passed. Decades of restrictions have gutted the state’s provider network, and medication abortion is still unavailable as the courts sort out which old laws are constitutional.

Wilson is vying to be the Democratic nominee in Missouri's only 2026 statewide campaign. Republicans haven’t lost a statewide race since 2018.

Less than a year from the midterms, state and local voting officials from both major political parties are actively preparing for the possibility of interference by the Trump administration. In Missouri, the Justice Department made an unprecedented demand to investigate voting machines, access old ballots and more.

The Republican National Committee is targeting voters to remove their names from a referendum petition that could overturned Missouri's recently redrawn congressional map. A lawsuit is already underway over whether Missouri's Secretary of State improperly threw out tens of thousands of signatures.

Missouri doesn't have a marquee statewide race next year. But the results of some contests, including a Republican-written ballot measure to undo abortion rights, could be a big sign of a Democratic wave or continued GOP dominance.

Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, Missouri's top election official, wrote the ballot language for a referendum that would overturn Republicans' recently gerrymandered congressional map. Even though the language is supposed to be unbiased, it would tell voters that the old map "protects incumbent politicians."

Unless courts intervene, it's looking more likely that Missouri voters will ultimately get to decide the fate of the GOP's congressional map — meaning the gerrymandered districts might not take effect for the 2026 election cycle.

A new lawsuit accuses Missouri GOP lawmakers of trying to trick voters by writing an intentionally deceptive summary for a ballot measure that would make it much harder for voters to pass a constitutional amendment.