Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway's office is arguing in a court filing that judges should preserve a new congressional map for the state, partly because a map approved by the legislature in 2022 contains a St. Louis-based district that may constitute an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
The filing is sparking condemnation from some Black elected officials from St. Louis, who see it as a rupture in an unusual redistricting alliance between Republicans and Democrats that ultimately helped enhance African American political power in the region.
"I think it's an insult to anyone with an ounce of common sense," said Rep. Wesley Bell, D-St. Louis County, who holds the 1st District seat. "And we know what this is about. This is the Trump agenda of knowing that they're going to lose the midterms. And they're trying to cheat their way from losing in the midterms."
After Missouri lawmakers passed a new congressional map in September, it faced a torrent of litigation — including a lawsuit about whether the General Assembly possesses the ability to redraw districts in the middle of the decade. Cole County Judge Christopher Limbaugh is expected to rule on that case in the coming weeks.
Earlier this month, Missouri Solicitor General Louis Capozzi filed a brief on behalf of Hanaway's office, stating that one of the reasons the new map should be preserved is to prevent posing "serious harm" to the legislature's "corrective redistricting ability." He goes onto write "there is a serious legal question whether the prior Missouri congressional map complied with the U.S. Constitution's Equal Protection Clause." He then refers to a U.S. Supreme Court case about whether Louisiana violated the Equal Protection Clause by creating a map with two majority Black congressional districts.
"Consistent with prior understandings of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the General Assembly created a minority opportunity district in the Missouri First Congressional District. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering whether such moves are constitutional, and most legal observers expect that court to hold that they are not," Capozzi wrote. "Such a holding would jeopardize the constitutionality of the prior congressional map. The General Assembly and Governor Kehoe thus acted prudently in trying to preempt such problems by enacting a new, race-blind congressional map."
Capozzi continued that "if the Court grants Plaintiffs the remedies they request — restoration of the prior congressional map — it would likely be forcing Missouri to violate the U.S. Constitution's Equal Protection Clause."
"Indeed, Missouri would likely be exposed to last-minute litigation over the prior map's constitutional validity in mid-2026 — just months before important midterm elections," Capozzi wrote.
'Quite strange'
Capozzi's contention sparked confusion among some attorneys involved with or following the Missouri redistricting cases.
Chuck Hatfield, who is representing plaintiffs in the redistricting case in which Capozzi filed the brief, said, "It's quite strange to me that the attorney general would argue that a Missouri law, passed by a Republican legislature, is unconstitutional.
"Normally, the attorney general's job is to defend the laws the legislature passes," Hatfield said. "In addition, the current map does not make substantial changes to the 1st Congressional District. If it was unconstitutional in 2022, which it was not, it would be unconstitutional in 2025. So, if the attorney general is right, I suppose we can add a fifth lawsuit against the 2025 redistricting."
Former state Supreme Court Judge Michael Wolff, who is dean emeritus at St. Louis University School of Law, said Capozzi's argument makes little sense since the new 1st Congressional District would almost certainly result in a Black candidate winning a general election.
While some lawmakers questioned whether the 1st Congressional District is still a majority-minority district under the new redistricting plan, it's unlikely that the percentage of African American voters in the new 1st District would drop enough to prevent a Black candidate from winning the seat.
"If [Capozzi is] attacking the old map on the basis of the 1st District, he may also be attacking the new map," Wolff said.
Hanaway didn't return requests for comment. Kehoe spokeswoman Gabby Picard said the governor's office doesn't comment on pending litigation. In his proclamation calling for a special session on redistricting, Kehoe said "the State of Missouri's current congressional district map may be vulnerable to a legal challenge under the Voting Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment, due to a lack of compactness in certain districts."
'End of an era'
It'll be up to Limbaugh whether Capozzi's contention about the 1st District makes a difference in his decision making. Capozzi didn't bring up that argument during last week's hearing in the case. And Capozzi's main argument for preserving the map revolves around the idea that the constitutional amendment laying out the process for congressional redistricting doesn't explicitly bar lawmakers from redrawing the map in the middle of the decade.
But the questioning of the 1st Congressional District constitutes a political shift for Missouri Republicans, who have supported having a majority Black district in the St. Louis area for decades.
Former Congressman Bill Clay wrote in his book "Bill Clay: A Political Voice at the Grassroots" about how Republicans were part of an unusual legislative coalition that created a majority African American 1st District that sought "to protect its self-interests." Black Democrats supported the composition of the 1st District since it enhanced African American political power, while Republicans liked it because it made surrounding congressional districts more GOP-leaning.
State Rep. LaKeySha Bosley, D-St. Louis, called the new congressional map "racist" during the special session, primarily because her Republican colleagues were placing largely white inner ring suburbs in the 1st Congressional District.
She said Hanaway's filing is an "I told you so" moment — and an end of an era in Missouri politics.
"They think that it's all just a run-of-the-mill conversation, but in all actuality, we know for a fact that the ultimate goal is to control the St. Louis region," Bosley said. "So in reading that, I was not only floored – but I also took it as a moment of just like, 'Here we go again.'"
Bell said, "It's just disappointing where this administration has taken us and as a country." He pointed to how many of the Democratic lawmakers targeted under GOP mid-decade redistricting plans represent districts with sizable racial minority populations.
"What we're seeing is a safe space for these voices of hate and division, and that's the biggest issue that I have with this movement, whether you want to call it the MAGA movement, Trump's agenda or what have you," Bell said. "It's based on dividing us and taking back or taking us back to a place to where this country was not for everyone."
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