Missouri GOP Holds Firm on Gerrymandered Map Despite Legal Doubts

Missouri Republicans are acting like a map that never became law is still the map. That is not “fighting.” That is pretending. The state Supreme Court said the legislature’s congressional plan didn’t actually take effect, and the U.S. Supreme Court setbacks didn’t exactly scream “full speed ahead” either. Yet here we are, watching party officials dig in anyway. You can’t run elections on wishful thinking.

We get the instinct. Democrats gerrymander when they can, then sue when they can’t. Nobody should be naïve about that. But there’s a difference between playing hardball and walking into a legal wall with your eyes open. If Missouri’s top court is telling you the map isn’t law, then “holding firm” mostly means burning time and money that could be spent locking down a lawful, defensible plan. Winning the argument in your own press release doesn’t win in court.

There’s also a practical problem that never gets the attention it deserves: candidates, county clerks, and voters need certainty. Filing deadlines come fast. Ballots have to be printed. Campaigns have to know what district they’re running in. Dragging this out might feel tough, but it risks chaos when the calendar catches up. And when chaos hits, judges step in, usually in ways conservatives won’t like. Delay is how you end up with a court-drawn map.

If Missouri Republicans want to keep seats and keep faith with voters, the smart move is not another round of chest-thumping. It’s to pass a clean map that can survive scrutiny and move on to the fights that actually change the country. The left will scream either way. Fine. Give them fewer openings, not more.