It has now been seven months since a coalition of churches, community organizations, and labor unions packed the Capitol building in Jefferson City, Missouri, by the thousands, demanding fair electoral maps. Missourians have collected and submitted over 300,000 signatures to overturn the racist, sloppily drawn, and unconstitutional redistricting passed by the state legislature. They’ve taken the case to the courts, even appealing all the way to the Supreme Court (to be heard on May 12).
Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins continues to sit on his hands for the Trump regime when it comes to processing those signatures. Let’s call it what it is: He’s effectively wasting taxpayers’ money by refusing to do his job—all in order to please a historically unpopular movement and president.
Before we get too deep into the story, let’s refresh on recent Missouri history. Following the orders issued by President Trump in early 2025, Missouri Republicans drew up and hurriedly passed a new electoral map designed to lock in MAGA control by cutting up minority areas and Democratic-leaning parcels in order to assemble districts guaranteed to elect GOP candidates.
The new map seeks to destroy the seat of Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. The GOP scheme would split the 5th District into two majority-white and majority-Republican districts to snuff out the ideas and values of those who live in Kansas City and send Cleaver to represent them in Congress.
As it currently stands, six of Missouri’s eight seats are held by Republicans and two by the Democrats—a far cry from what might be expected, given that nearly 40% of Missouri voters cast ballots for the Democratic Party in the most recent election. This new gerrymandered map would be gerrymandering the gerrymander, so to speak, as the state’s congressional delegation is already considered so slanted.
In response, people across the state joined forces in hopes of sending the new map to the dustbin. In a swift move, community organizations, churches, and unions have come together in a coalition called “People Not Politicians.”
The new alliance is fighting the map on multiple fronts. In the courts, there is a legal battle to declare the map unconstitutional due to the timing of its formulation. The lawsuit argues that language in the Missouri Constitution mandates that electoral maps be drawn according to the U.S. Census, which is done every ten years. This new map was done separately from the census, coming in the middle of the decade.
In a recent split decision in the case of Luther v. Hoskins, the Missouri courts have ruled that politicians can redraw maps outside of the census, which is an unprecedented break in Missouri politics.
“Saying the Missouri legislature can redistrict whenever they want has no impact on our ability to do a referendum on this clear politician power grab and gerrymander,” says People Not Politicians.
The second front has been in the electoral arena, where organizers and community members gathered over 300,000 of the 100,000 signatures needed to put a referendum on the ballot to dismiss this new map. Yet Hoskins has refused to certify these signatures and has even tried to dismiss nearly 100,000 of them.
“In the case of whether the Secretary of State Denny Hoskins is ever going to count all 305,000+ signatures we turned in, well, that case is still in abeyance, which means the case is frozen in time,” People Not Politicians says. “The good news is that thanks to our persistent open records request, the Secretary of State is now providing updates on the signature verification process. We have far exceeded the required number of signatures needed in each congressional district, and we will qualify for the ballot.”
The third front has been mass action. Thousands of Missourians have proved repeatedly that they are ready to flood the statehouse to disrupt and disturb business as usual. On any given day, smaller demos pop up in towns and cities across the state.
Many have been asking, what electoral map is currently in effect, and how will this impact our upcoming elections?
State officials keep saying that House Bill 1, the gerrymander, is already in effect. That has been challenged by the ACLU in a case called Maggard v. the State of Missouri. In each of the previous 27 times that Missourians have exercised the right to the referendum, the law being challenged has been suspended upon the submission of signatures. That is because the Missouri Constitution requires it.
“Our current state officials don’t seem to care,” as People Not Politicians puts it. “They don’t think precedent over the last hundred years or all the numerous times that this has been challenged and answered by our court’s matters.”
The Maggard case was initially dismissed, but it was immediately appealed to the Supreme Court, where arguments will be heard on May 12, with a decision expected soon after. That outcome will likely answer the question of which map is used in the November midterms.
The steps forward remain clear. The Supreme Court must obey the will of the people, and Secretary of State Denny Hoskins must do his job. Stop wasting taxpayer money and verify the signatures. The people, not the politicians, have the power.
As with all op-eds and news analytical articles published by People’s World, the views expressed here are those of the author.
We hope you appreciated this article. At People’s World, we believe news and information should be free and accessible to all, but we need your help. Our journalism is free of corporate influence and paywalls because we are totally reader-supported. Only you, our readers and supporters, make this possible. If you enjoy reading People’s World and the stories we bring you, please support our work by donating or becoming a monthly sustainer today. Thank you!
CONTRIBUTOR
