Missouri judge rejects a challenge to new US House districts backed by Trump

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri court has rejected a legal challenge to new U.S. House districts backed by President Donald Trump that are aimed at helping Republicans win an additional seat in the midterm elections.

Opponents of the new districts claimed they violated a state constitutional provision requiring districts to be compact. But Jackson County Circuit Judge Adam Caine rejected that in a ruling Thursday.

Although the ruling marked a victory for Republicans, a separate legal challenge remains pending at the Missouri Supreme Court alleging that mid-decade redistricting is unconstitutional.

Missouri is one of several states targeted for congressional redistricting by Trump, who has been angling for an edge in the November elections as Republicans try to hold their narrow House majority. After Trump called on Texas Republicans to redistrict, Democrats countered with new districts in California, and a redistricting battle soon spread to other states.

Missouri currently is represented in the U.S. House by six Republicans and two Democrats under a map passed in 2022 based on the most recent census. At the time, Republican lawmakers turned back an attempt by some in the party to push a map giving Republicans a shot at winning seven seats. They cited concerns that it could spread Republicans too thin and backfire in losses if Democrats enjoyed a favorable election year.

But Republicans set aside those concerns last year under pressure from the White House to revise the districts for partisan advantage.

A new map passed during a September special legislative session is intended to help Republicans win a Kansas City-area seat currently held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. It reassigns portions of Kansas City to two neighboring districts represented by Republicans and stretches the remainder of his 5th Congressional District eastward into Republican-heavy rural areas.