Missouri's new US House map goes to court while Louisiana and South
Carolina consider redistricting
[May 12, 2026]
By DAVID A. LIEB, JEFFREY COLLINS and JACK BROOK
Missouri's top court is hearing an important legal challenge Tuesday to
one of President Donald Trump's earliest redistricting successes while
lawmakers in Louisiana and South Carolina weigh whether to become the
most recent Republican states to redraw U.S. House districts ahead of
the midterm elections.
Rather than waning, a national redistricting battle that began 10 months
ago has intensified as the November elections draw nearer — inflamed by
a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened the federal Voting
Rights Act and provided grounds for states to try to eliminate voting
districts with large minority populations.
Missouri was the second Republican state after Texas to heed Trump's
call last year to redraw congressional districts to help the GOP win
additional seats in the midterms. At issue before the Missouri Supreme
Court is whether the new districts violate a state constitutional
requirement to be compact, and whether they can remain in place for this
year's elections despite an initiative petition seeking to force a
public referendum.
In South Carolina, the issue facing Republican lawmakers is whether
redrawing the state's lone Democratic-held seat could open the door to a
clean sweep for Republicans or backfire with additional losses by making
more districts competitive for Democrats. State senators must decide
whether to allow consideration of a redistricting plan put forth in the
House after the legislature's regular work ends Thursday.
Congressional redistricting also is under consideration in Louisiana,
where the Supreme Court's recent ruling invalidated a majority-Black
district as an illegal racial gerrymander. The state's May 16
congressional primaries already have been postponed. What remains
undecided is how many seats Republicans will try to pick up while
redrawing the districts.
Alabama also is poised to switch its congressional districts for this
year's elections, after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday overturned an
order for it to use a map with two largely Black districts.
Republicans think they could gain as many as 14 seats from new House
maps enacted so far in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida
and Tennessee. Democrats, meanwhile, think they could gain six seats
from new maps in California and Utah. The Virginia Supreme Court last
week struck down a redistricting effort that could have yielded four
more winnable seats for Democrats.
South Carolina weighs political risks of redistricting
A South Carolina House committee is to consider Tuesday whether to send
a congressional redistricting plan to the full chamber for debate. The
House also appears poised to pass legislation that could delay the June
9 congressional primaries until August to allow time for new districts
to be enacted. That comes even as some absentee and overseas military
ballots already have been cast.
But any redistricting effort also must clear the Senate, where support
is less certain. Two-thirds of senators have to agree before the regular
General Assembly session ends Thursday to let the legislature take up
redistricting later.
Trump said on social media Monday that he was closely watching the
redistricting vote, urging South Carolina senators to “be bold and
courageous" and to delay the House primaries so new districts can be
drawn.
Although Republicans have a supermajority in the chamber, several
senators aren’t sure the proposed map guarantees the GOP will win seat
held by long-serving Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn. And they think
enough Democratic voters could be pushed into other districts that the
plan could backfire, resulting in a 5-2 or even a 4-3 Republican split.
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The Missouri Capitol is seen Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, in Jefferson
City, Mo. (AP Photo/David A. Lieb)
Some also question whether it is fair for Republicans to get all the
seats in a state where the Democratic presidential candidate has
gotten at least 40% of the vote every election this century, even if
Trump is asking for the new map.
Louisiana GOP looks to target one or two seats
State Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, a Republican who oversees the Louisiana
Senate committee tasked with redistricting, said his panel plans to
vote Tuesday on a U.S. House map, with a full Senate vote expected
Thursday.
The committee has several options, including versions that would
leave Democrats favored in only one district or none. Kleinpeter
said a map eliminating all majority-Black districts would be
difficult to hold up in court.
Last Friday, dozens of people urged lawmakers to retain two
majority-Black districts during a grueling nine-hour hearing that
featured civil rights activists and the only four Black congressmen
elected to represent the state since the end of the Reconstruction
era.
Missouri map splits Kansas City district
Missouri currently is represented in the U.S. House by six
Republicans and two Democrats under a map passed by the
Republican-led legislature after the 2020 census. But with Trump's
backing, Republican state officials adopted a new map last September
that improves their chances of winning an additional seat by
targeting a Kansas City district held by longtime Democratic U.S.
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, who previously was the city's first Black
mayor.
The new House map places portions of Kansas City in neighboring
Republican districts and stretches the remainder of Cleaver's 5th
District far eastward into Republican-heavy rural areas. A state
judge in March rejected an assertion that the map violates a
constitutional compactness requirement, finding that the new
districts on average are more compact — even if the 5th District is
not. That was appealed to the state Supreme Court.
A separate case also being argued Tuesday at the state Supreme Court
contends the new districts should have been automatically suspended
in December when opponents submitted more than 300,000 petition
signatures seeking to force a statewide referendum.
But Republican Attorney General Catherine Hanaway and Republican
Secretary of State Denny Hoskins contend the new districts can be
suspended only if — and after — Hoskins determines the petition
meets constitutional requirements and has enough valid signatures.
Hoskins has until Aug. 4, the day of Missouri's primary elections,
to make that determination.
A state judge in March agreed with the Republicans' position while
also ruling that the plaintiffs lacked grounds to sue and had done
so too soon.
___
Brook reported from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Collins from Columbia,
South Carolina, and Lieb from Jefferson City, Missouri.
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