Missouri Supreme Court summons Republican Secretary of State Hoskins after he vows to use gerrymandered map

Kacen Bayless, The Kansas City Star on Sep 9, 2026

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Supreme Court wants Secretary of State Denny Hoskins to explain himself.

Chief Justice W. Brent Powell late Tuesday ordered Hoskins, a Republican, to appear in person Thursday and explain why he should not be held in contempt for ordering local election officials to use a gerrymandered congressional map that the court blocked.

The extraordinary order capped off another day of chaos in Missouri’s redistricting fight as Republicans attempted to press forward with a gerrymandered congressional map that carves up Kansas City.

Jim Layton, a former state solicitor general who spent 22 years in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, cast the order as stunning.

“I have closely watched SCOMO and litigation regarding MO state officials for more than 30 years,” Layton said on social media. “I don’t believe anything like this has ever happened in that time.”

Earlier in the day, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh rejected Missouri’s effort to reinstate the map, striking a blow to Republicans. Moments later, however, a federal judge in St. Louis barred the state from using any map other than the gerrymandered one, called HB 1.

The two decisions came after the Missouri Supreme Court last week blocked Hoskins and election officials from using the map in November. The court found that the map cannot ever go into effect unless voters approve it in a citizen-led referendum vote.

Amid the flurry of decisions, Missouri Republicans have seized on the federal one that favored their side. Hoskins sent emails to local election officials directing them to use the gerrymandered map in the election. Republican Attorney General Catherine Hanaway echoed that promise in a statement.

Attorneys for the referendum campaign, called People Not Politicians, argue that Hoskins is violating the Missouri Supreme Court’s order blocking use of the map. They said the two court decisions have placed the state and its election officials in a precarious situation.

If they use the gerrymandered map, they’re in violation of an order from the state Supreme Court, the campaign argued. If they use any other map, they’re violating a federal judge’s order that opponents have appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Powell, the chief justice, gave Hoskins until noon Wednesday to respond to Tuesday’s order. He scheduled a hearing for 10 a.m. Thursday in Jefferson City.

Hoskins, in a statement to The Star, suggested that he would continue his push to use the gerrymandered map.

“I will continue to abide by Judge Clark’s federal temporary restraining order on a federal congressional election,” Hoskins said. “I look forward to my day in court.”

The state’s top election official went on to attack the referendum campaign using a series of buzzwords that he’s repeatedly deployed throughout Missouri’s redistricting fight.

“I will always fight to protect our common-sense Missouri values from a liberal Democrat Socialist and his out-of-state NYC sugar daddies,” Hoskins said.

Chuck Hatfield, an attorney for the referendum campaign, has previously questioned Hoskins’ use of those words. Last month he asked on social media why Hoskins “was so obsessed with sugar daddies lately?”

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