Trump blasts SCOTUS map decision as Missouri conservatives call for state court reform 

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Missouri’s congressional maps is fueling a conservative call to overhaul how the state selects its judges.

The high court ruled Friday that the 2022 map must be used this November even though voters had already cast ballots in congressional districts during the August primary under the GOP-favored 2025 map.

Justices noted precedents haven’t established a constitutional requirement to use identical maps in primary and general elections. They also cited concerns about altering election rules after absentee, military and overseas ballots were already printed and mailed.

Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins expressed disappointment with the high court’s ruling while promising a smooth election process.

“While today’s SCOTUS ruling is a disappointing blow to representative democracy, I appreciate the final clarity,” Hoskins said in a statement. “My Office will of course comply with the law. I have every confidence in our local election authorities and that they will administer a seamless general election.”

President Donald Trump also weighed in on the high court’s decision.

“The Supreme Court of the United States will just not let Missouri have an Election Victory,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “They continuously, three times now, overrule Judges who came to the correct decisions. Thank you to the Governor, and all of the Great People of Missouri, who are fighting so hard for Fairness and Election Security. Such tremendous Spirit and Love of our Country. I won Missouri BIG, all three times, and I couldn’t be more proud of doing so. A great place – I love you all!”

Rep. Bob Onder, R-Missouri, criticized the decision to invalidate primary voting choices across the state.

“Nothing says ‘democracy’ like invalidating the results of an election in which 1.2 million people voted,” he posted on X.

Onder also defended Hoskins, who faced a contempt threat from state judges while following federal court orders.

“The Missouri Supreme Court vindictively scheduled a contempt hearing at a time when it had been overruled by a higher court, and Hoskins was following the order of that higher court,” Onder, a doctor and attorney, posted on X. “Denny was threatened with arrest and jail time. I’m proud of Secretary Hoskins for his courage in following the rule of law under tremendous pressure to do otherwise.”

Missouri conservatives are shifting their attention to Proposition A, a fall ballot measure allowing voters to decide which congressional map the state uses for future elections. A yes vote adopts the Missouri First Map used during the primary, while a no vote maintains the 2022 district lines.

Overhauling the Missouri Plan

Conservative leaders see the redistricting fight as clear proof the state’s judicial selection process, called the Missouri Plan, needs an overhaul. Missouri currently uses a nonpartisan court plan where a seven-member commission nominates three judicial candidates for the governor to choose from.

Andy Bakker, executive director of Liberty Alliance USA, a Missouri-based conservative grassroots advocacy group, argues the current system leaves representatives of the voters with little-to-no real say.

“Elected officials are accountable to the people who put them there, to the people in their districts,” Bakker told Heartlander News. “And we are choosing our judges not by a vote of the people, but by a vote of four often liberal legal elites. So, we shouldn’t be surprised when their perspectives don’t line up with ours.”

Onder agrees, insisting the Missouri Plan must be scrapped entirely.

“We do need to change the Missouri Plan. It’s got to go,” he said. “It sometimes gets called the Missouri nonpartisan court plan. I call it the Missouri hyperpartisan court plan.”

Onder pointed out trial lawyers and legal insiders dominate the selection process, leaving conservative governors with few options.

“Essentially, a commission of legal elites or cronies, predominantly from St. Louis and Kansas City, trial lawyers, divorce attorneys, criminal defense attorneys, control this commission,” he said. “And the governor can only choose judges that are sent forward by the commission to him. So basically, he gets a bunch of choices that are friendly to the liberal lawyer elites. This is a profoundly undemocratic way of choosing judges.”

Bakker said Missouri voters are waking up to the mismatch between how they vote at the ballot box and how state judges rule.

“People realize [the Missouri Plan] is a messed-up system,” he said. “And they’re able to look at the way that we vote here in Missouri and compare that to the rulings that come down from our state courts and say, ‘something’s out of whack here.’”

Bakker noted judicial overreach has been a recurring issue in Missouri for years, particularly with statewide ballot measures.

“At Liberty Alliance, we work a lot on ballot measures,” he explained. “And so one of the things that we’ve watched is the way that courts treat the ballot summaries that actually appear before the voters, rewriting these things and consistently making them more favorable to the liberal position in every case.”

To solve the issue, Bakker said his organization has advocated legislative options such as partisan judicial elections or a federal-style model where the governor appoints judges subject to Senate confirmation.

“I think any of those options are better than what we’ve got,” he said. “The courts are out of control. And this is the biggest issue that we need to address.”

Onder advocates replacing the system with direct elections or the federal appointment model.

“We’d have a judiciary that’s much more in touch with the people of Missouri if we selected our judges in some other way, either by election or the way we choose our federal judges with the executive nominating and the Senate confirming,” he said.