Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, a Republican, speaks with reporters after the Missouri’s highest court heard arguments over the state’s gerrymandered congressional map on May 12, 2026.
Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins on Tuesday refused to certify for the ballot a campaign to strike down the state’s gerrymandered congressional map, a remarkable decision that blocks the vote after more than 300,000 citizens signed onto an effort to force a statewide referendum.
Hoskins, a Republican and staunch supporter of the map, said that the Missouri Constitution does not expressly give voters the right to hold a referendum on congressional redistricting. He cast the campaign as unconstitutional at a press conference in Jefferson City on the same day as the Aug. 4 primary election.
“The Missouri First Map continues to be the law of the land,” Hoskins declared on Tuesday, referring to the map’s nickname coined by Republican supporters.
Hoskins refused to answer multiple questions about whether the campaign, called People Not Politicians, had turned in enough valid signatures to hold a statewide vote. The campaign, however, turned in well above the required number of signatures, according to preliminary data posted on the secretary of state’s website.
“It does not matter if it had one signature or 500 million signatures,” Hoskins said. “It’s unconstitutional and a referendum on a congressional redistricting map cannot be done.”
Hoskins’ decision, which he had previewed for months, is not final and is virtually certain to spark a heated legal battle. Representatives from People Not Politicians immediately made clear they would file a lawsuit challenging the decision.
“Secretary of State Hoskins is making a last desperate attempt to silence the people’s voice in Missouri,” said Richard Von Glahn, the campaign’s executive director. “We’ve fought back against politicians for the last year, and we won’t stop now.”
Von Glahn emphasized that the campaign turned in enough signatures. He also pushed back against Hoskins’ legal argument, saying that judges have consistently ruled that redistricting is subject to state-level constitutions, which would include Missouri’s referendum process.
Hoskins also suggested that the referendum would have stripped away lawmakers’ authority to redraw congressional districts, a position promoted by Republicans for months. That argument echoes the so-called Independent State Legislature Theory, a disputed legal theory that claims that the U.S. Constitution gives state lawmakers exclusive power to run federal elections.
The move marks the latest attempt by Missouri Republicans to halt voters from holding a referendum to repeal the map. Lawmakers redrew the state’s congressional districts last year under pressure from the Trump administration amid a nationwide redistricting frenzy.
The map splits Kansas City voters into three Republican-leaning districts in an effort to oust U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver by carving up his 5th Congressional District in Kansas City.
Shortly after lawmakers approved the map, People Not Politicians launched a campaign to strike it down at the ballot box. They traveled across the state and collected more than 300,000 signatures to force a statewide vote on it in November.
Hoskins’ decision puts that vote in jeopardy. The Republican secretary of state has repeatedly used the powers of his office to block the referendum in an attempt to ensure the map will be used in the 2026 midterms, a key election cycle for Trump.
He previously tossed out nearly 90,000 of the campaign’s signatures. He waited until the day of the Aug. 4 election to reject the referendum for the ballot. He pressed forward with the new map despite legal questions about whether it is in effect or not. And he’s accused at least one local election clerk of violating the law for raising those questions.
Now, the secretary of state’s rejection sets the stage for a race against the clock. Opponents will push for a judge to determine that Hoskins’ action was illegal before the November election.
“People will have the final say in November and the chance to vote no to politicians’ desperate power grabs,” Von Glahn said.
In addition to his decision on the referendum, Hoskins also refused to certify for the ballot a campaign called Respect MO Voters that’s pushing to protect the initiative petition process, the state’s main tool for direct democracy.
That campaign turned in roughly 362,000 signatures to force a statewide vote on a proposed constitutional amendment that would protect the initiative process from legislative attacks. Hoskins on Tuesday said the effort violated the Missouri Constitution because it dealt with multiple subjects, among other requirements.
This story was originally published August 4, 2026 at 4:54 PM.
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Kacen Bayless
The Kansas City Star
Kacen Bayless is the Democracy Insider for The Kansas City Star, a position that uncovers how politics and government affect communities across the sprawling Kansas City area. Prior to this role, he covered Missouri politics for The Star. A graduate of the University of Missouri, he previously was an investigative reporter in coastal South Carolina.
