The court said the petition for a referendum, filed in December and backed by more than 300,000 signatures, was legal, sufficient and filed on time. This overturns Secretary of State Denny Hoskins’ earlier decision to reject the petition.

Legal experts note that this is an unusual setback for Republicans nationwide because it is the first time a court has nullified a congressional map after a primary but before a general election.

The contested map was designed to give Republicans an extra House seat by reshaping the district of Democratic Representative Emanuel Cleaver, moving it eastward to add more rural, right‑leaning voters.

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, a Republican, said the ruling creates a constitutional crisis and announced she will immediately ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.