Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District House Race 2026

The U.S. Supreme Court has ended, for now, Missouri's year-long redistricting battle by rejecting the Trump-backed congressional map, clearing the way for the state to use districts drawn in 2022 for the November election. Secretary of State Denny Hoskins directed local election authorities to use the 2022 map after the ruling, following the Missouri Supreme Court's earlier order; Attorney General Catherine Hanaway followed suit. Hoskins had briefly been found in contempt for trying to use the new map before correcting course, and the court imposed no penalty once he complied.

The switch means Missouri could hold its general election under different districts than were used in the August primary, potentially changing candidate choices for roughly a quarter of the state's voters. The dispute centers on a GOP-drawn map targeting Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver's Kansas City-area seat, part of a broader Trump-driven redistricting push following similar action in Texas. Gov. Mike Kehoe still hopes the map can be revived, watching the 8th Circuit, which will hear arguments ahead of a Sept. 19 deadline to finalize ballots for overseas military voters. A statewide referendum on the map also remains on the November ballot.

The U.S. Supreme Court blocked Missouri from using a Republican-drawn 2025 congressional map in November, requiring the state to instead use the map adopted in 2022. The ruling caps a monthslong dispute triggered by a national redistricting push, following mid-decade map changes in Texas and Ohio favoring Republicans and California's Democratic-leaning response. Missouri's 2025 map, passed in May, would have added a Republican-leaning seat by reshaping Kansas City's District 5, held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, and tightening District 2, held by Republican Ann Wagner.

Because primaries were held under the 2025 map while the general election reverts to 2022 lines, Republicans Bob Onder and Rick Brattin have sued, arguing voters' rights are harmed; the Eighth Circuit was set to hear arguments. Missouri's Supreme Court separately found Secretary of State Denny Hoskins in contempt for trying to use the blocked map, though he avoided sanction after complying. Voters will ultimately decide the matter through Proposition A, a ballot measure asking whether to adopt the 2025 map or keep the 2022 lines, with implications for other states' redistricting plans.

Missouri has become a flashpoint in the national battle over congressional redistricting ahead of the midterms. Last year, at President Trump's urging, the Republican-led state legislature redrew congressional boundaries mid-decade to weaken Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver by extending his Kansas City-based district deep into rural, conservative territory.

A grassroots petition drive and subsequent legal challenges halted implementation of the new map. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled that any change to district lines must first be approved by voters in a public referendum, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene on Republicans' behalf. As a result, the original 2022 congressional map will appear on the November ballot, though Republicans are pursuing further legal avenues to overturn that outcome. The fight reflects broader nationwide efforts by both parties to reshape district lines mid-decade as they jockey for control of Congress.

Friday marks 26 years since the Oct. 16, 2000, plane crash that killed Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan, his son Randy and campaign advisor Chris Sifford. The Cessna, piloted by Randy, went down near Hillsboro, Missouri, en route to a campaign event as Carnahan — then the Democratic Senate nominee challenging incumbent Republican John Ashcroft — campaigned in the race's final weeks. A 2002 NTSB brief attributed the crash to spatial disorientation, attitude indicator problems and poor weather. Lt. Gov. Roger B. Wilson was sworn in as governor two days later once the deaths were confirmed, and memorials drew thousands to Jefferson City, including President Clinton and Vice President Gore.

With the ballot deadline already passed, Wilson pledged to appoint Carnahan's widow, Jean, to the Senate if her late husband won. On Nov. 7, 2000, Carnahan defeated Ashcroft, becoming the first candidate to win a U.S. Senate seat posthumously. Jean Carnahan was sworn in on Jan. 3, 2001, cementing the family's legacy of public service.

Ohio's 2026 governor's race could shape how the state's voter-approved reproductive-rights amendment is implemented, since the governor appoints health officials, directs funding, and decides how vigorously to defend abortion restrictions in court. Democrat Amy Acton supports abortion rights and pledges to protect the 2023 amendment while expanding access to contraception and IVF, though she has offered few policy specifics. Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, who did not respond to questions, has previously called himself "unapologetically pro-life" and backed six-week abortion bans during his 2024 presidential run, but has not detailed an Ohio agenda. Libertarian Don Kissick opposes both abortion bans and government efforts to expand abortion access, arguing government should stay out of the issue entirely.

Missouri's congressional map dispute continues even after two Supreme Court setbacks for Republicans. Secretary of State Denny Hoskins conceded during a contempt hearing and reverted to the state's 2022 congressional map after the Missouri Supreme Court unanimously found he improperly blocked a citizen referendum, which had gathered roughly 300,000 signatures, to suspend the GOP's 2025 map. That map would have shifted the delegation from 6-2 to 7-1 Republican.

Five Missouri voters have since sued Hoskins, seeking roughly $80 million in damages on behalf of about 162,000 people whose referendum signatures were verified, alleging he violated statutory duties by improperly rejecting the petition and repeatedly directing election authorities to use the invalid 2025 map.

Republicans, including Rep. Bob Onder, Gov. Mike Kehoe, and Hoskins, are still pursuing the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has expedited briefing ahead of the Sept. 19 overseas ballot deadline. Legal scholars note the Supreme Court's stay effectively controls the outcome regardless of the appeals court's ruling, with broader implications for the 2026 midterm balance of power.

Abortion policy continues to fracture along state lines three years after Dobbs overturned Roe v. Wade. In Massachusetts, Gov. Maura Healey signed the Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act, removing restrictions on abortion after 24 weeks and drawing criticism over the state's parallel campaign against pregnancy resource centers, which has spurred defamation and free-speech lawsuits. In Missouri, voters will decide in November on Amendment 3, a compromise measure that would restore limits on abortion after 12 weeks while allowing exceptions for rape, incest, and medical emergencies, and would also bar gender transition procedures for minors. And in Columbus, Ohio, reproductive rights advocates are pressing the city council to remove Flock automated license plate readers, warning the cameras could help states with abortion bans track and prosecute out-of-state patients, despite police assurances that reproductive-care searches are filtered.

Together, the disputes illustrate how abortion access, surveillance, and parental-consent questions remain contested even in states that have moved to protect or restrict the procedure, with litigation and ballot measures likely to shape enforcement for years.

Missouri voters will decide on Amendment 8, a constitutional measure that largely mirrors existing state law requiring most counties to elect their sheriffs, while exempting St. Louis, St. Louis County and St. Charles County, where sheriffs are appointed. The measure's key change is to the removal process: sheriffs could only be removed via a writ of quo warranto, a legal challenge to a person's right to hold office, and only the state attorney general — not local circuit attorneys or county prosecutors — could initiate that process. A judge would ultimately decide whether a sheriff should be removed, based on grounds such as unlawful election, abuse of authority, corruption, fraud or neglect of duty.

The measure passed the Missouri House and Senate largely along party lines. Supporters say it protects elected sheriffs from future legislative interference, while some Democratic opponents object to undefined language requiring sheriffs to apprehend "traitors" and warn the change could shift power away from local prosecutors toward the attorney general.

The Archdiocese of St. Louis has filed a federal lawsuit against the Ste. Genevieve County Detention Center, ICE and DHS officials, alleging the facility's no-contact visitation policy unconstitutionally blocks Catholic clergy from hearing confessions, celebrating Mass and administering Communion to detainees. Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski and Fr. Christopher Schroeder filed suit Oct. 5, saying the jail allows lawyers and consular officials more access than priests. It appears to be the first time a U.S. diocese, rather than an independent clergy coalition, has sued ICE over pastoral access.

The archdiocese rejects a jail proposal to pass consecrated wafers to detainees via guards, saying Communion must be given directly by an authorized minister, and that confession conducted by phone across glass violates Catholic requirements for privacy. DHS disputes the claims, saying it ensures religious access and calling the allegations false. The facility, holding about 150 of roughly 3,000 total ICE detainees since mid-2025, cites safety concerns. The suit follows similar clergy-access rulings favoring plaintiffs in Chicago and Minnesota.

Missouri's congressional redistricting fight has returned to the U.S. Supreme Court for a third time after the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the state must use its 2025 Republican-drawn map in November, reversing the Missouri Supreme Court decision that had reinstated the 2022 districts pending a voter referendum. The appeals court paused its own order to give the justices a narrow window to intervene again after twice previously blocking use of the new map, with a ruling expected soon.

The 2025 map, backed by President Trump, reshapes Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver's Kansas City-based district and could give Republicans seven of Missouri's eight House seats. With absentee voting underway, county election officials say they are following the most recent court order and currently using the 2022 map, but face confusion over what happens to ballots already cast if the Supreme Court later orders a switch. Election clerks note a voter's ballot could still count even if their U.S. House selection is voided. Regardless of the outcome, a referendum on the new districts will still appear on the ballot for future elections.