STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Now the Republican plan for redistricting in Missouri is blocked after further court moves yesterday.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
That included a Supreme Court order and, later, the state's highest election official being found in contempt of court. There's still a court challenge, but this is a win for Democrats after President Trump got Republicans to tilt several other districts their way in the battle for control of the House.
INSKEEP: St. Louis Public Radio's Jason Rosenbaum has been covering this for more than a year and surely ain't done yet. Joins us now. Jason, good morning.
JASON ROSENBAUM, BYLINE: Thank you for having me.
INSKEEP: OK. So what was the ruling yesterday? What had happened? What's the backdrop?
ROSENBAUM: So a federal judge in St. Louis had ordered that the Republican redistricting plan had to be used while he considers a case on it, but the U.S. Supreme Court blocked that yesterday with an unsigned order and no dissents. So that means the map Missouri Republicans passed at the behest of Trump is blocked while the case is considered, and there's not much time before the election to actually consider it. After the U.S. Supreme Court ended up acting, Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, a Republican who's been pushing for this GOP map, said he would go back to the old map used in the last two elections.
INSKEEP: Oh, so he's now doing what the state Supreme Court wants him to do. He was in trouble with the state Supreme Court yesterday.
ROSENBAUM: Yes. He was very much in trouble. So opposite from what the federal court did, the Missouri Supreme Court had already ruled that the GOP map could not be used. That was because redistricting opponents gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures to put the new map up for a vote in November. And the state court said, you can't use the new map before voters approve it. But Hoskins was defying that order, and the state Supreme Court warned that he could be found in contempt. And after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, he relented. Here's what he told reporters.
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DENNY HOSKINS: The only order that we have is from the Missouri Supreme Court. And so we have directed our local election authorities to follow the order of the Missouri Supreme Court.
ROSENBAUM: Now, Hoskins was still found in contempt of court, but the state judges said that since he had corrected his stance, they would not punish him.
INSKEEP: OK. When you look at the map of Missouri, there's a couple of Democrats and a vast majority of Republicans in the congressional delegation, but there's really one seat at issue here, the one around Kansas City. Who holds it now?
ROSENBAUM: It's Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver. He's been in office for two decades, and the newer map sought to oust him by linking parts of Kansas City with rural areas. He told me yesterday that Missourians should be proud to have pushed back.
EMANUEL CLEAVER: But I think that if we can get people around the country who may be looking at us as some kind of country-bumpkin state, can also look at us and say, the people in Missouri are people who understand their power.
ROSENBAUM: With Cleaver favored to win now, this would be one less seat the Republicans can count on in the midterms. Now, keep in mind, they still tilted several other seats around the country their way, as Trump wanted.
INSKEEP: Yeah. They had, like, a 10-seat advantage overall - maybe more like nine now. But where does this go next?
ROSENBAUM: The federal case I mentioned's still active. There are arguments next week. And Missouri Republican Congressman Bob Onder, one of the parties in it, said yesterday it's not over. But redistricting opponents say there's not enough time for the case - only a week before ballots start going out. Some legal experts told me the U.S. Supreme Court's move to block the GOP map already indicates what it would do if the case comes back to there again.
INSKEEP: Although, I'm sure the justices would insist that is not the case. The preliminary ruling does not necessarily say how they would rule, but we'll find out. Jason, thanks.
ROSENBAUM: Thank you.
INSKEEP: Jason Rosenbaum of St. Louis Public Radio. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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