Gov. Mike Kehoe calls the Supreme Court's decision "disappointing" but says "Missouri will follow the Court's order"
Mike KehoeGovernor of Missouri, in an official statement from the governor's office
Kehoe called it disappointing that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision means Missouri will hold the November general election under a different congressional map than the primary. He said voters deserved consistency and certainty, and added that Missouri will follow the Court's order.
“It is disappointing that today’s decision by the United States Supreme Court means Missouri will conduct its November general election under a different congressional map than its primary election. Voters deserved consistency and certainty, and not for the rules to be changed between elections. Nevertheless, Missouri will follow the Court’s order.”
Official statement
Original text
Original post
Other statements by Mike Kehoe in this case
- Gov. Mike Kehoe says the "Missouri First Map will be used in the general election"Earlier: Defended or excused
Where this statement fits
Should Missouri be allowed to use its 2025 congressional map in the 2026 general election?
Missouri lawmakers passed a new congressional map, House Bill 1, in September 2025, and the State used it in the August 4, 2026 primary. On September 3, 2026, the Supreme Court of Missouri ruled unanimously that a referendum petition kept the map from taking effect and that the 2022 map remains in force for the November general election. Gov. Mike Kehoe, Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, Secretary of State Denny Hoskins and President Donald Trump said in early September that the primary map should be used in November, and the Eighth Circuit held on September 21 that using the 2022 map violates the U.S. Constitution. People Not Politicians, the Campaign Legal Center and the ACLU argued that Missouri law makes the 2022 map the only valid map and that ballots had been mailed under it. On September 25, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court, in an unsigned per curiam order that records no dissent, stayed the federal injunctions, said that under state law the 2022 map must be used, and said lower courts should not require use of the 2025 map in the 2026 election. Kehoe called that decision disappointing and said Missouri will follow the order.
Source and context
Official statement
About this source
Official statement from the governor's office issued the day the U.S. Supreme Court stayed the federal orders requiring the 2025 map.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Original text
About this source
Unsigned per curiam order on an application that Circuit Justice Brett Kavanaugh referred to the full Court. It stays the Eighth Circuit's September 21 mandate and September 22 order and the district court's September 21 and 22 injunctions, keeps the Court's September 10 stay in place, and says the lower courts should not prohibit use of the 2022 map or require use of the 2025 map in the 2026 congressional election in Missouri. The text of the order shows no separate opinion or noted dissent.
Original post
About this source
Post from the governor's official account, a government-verified account, published the evening Chief Judge Stephen Clark issued his temporary restraining order.
Before the quotation
The U.S. Supreme Court stayed the Eighth Circuit's mandate and the district court's injunctions on September 25 and said lower courts should not require use of the 2025 map in the 2026 election.
After the quotation
As of the evening of September 25, 2026, we could not locate a later statement from Kehoe on the map. Before the Court's order, on September 8, he had said on X that the Missouri First Map would be used in the general election.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is use of the 2025 map in the 2026 general election. Kehoe says it is disappointing that the general election map will differ from the primary map and that voters deserved consistency, which continues to favor using the 2025 map, while committing to comply. The closest competing label, “Mixed or conditional”, loses because the pledge to comply concerns what the State will do and does not change his stated view of what voters deserved.
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The National Democratic Redistricting Committee says the Supreme Court "denied Missouri Republicans' third attempt to jam through their 2025 gerrymander"
National Democratic Redistricting Committee
“BREAKING: SCOTUS just denied Missouri Republicans' third attempt to jam through their 2025 gerrymander! 👏 This reaffirms what the state's highest court already said weeks ago — the 2025 map was never the law. Missouri Republicans tried to silence voters. Today, they lost.”Read statement
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- Gov. Mike Kehoe calls the Supreme Court's decision "disappointing" but says "Missouri will follow the Court's order"
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The Dispute Index. "Gov. Mike Kehoe calls the Supreme Court's decision "disappointing" but says "Missouri will follow the Court's order"". First published: 2026-09-26. Last updated: 2026-09-26. https://disputeindex.com/events/2698-kehoe-called-it-disappointing-that-the-u-s