The Supreme Court on Friday again refused to back Missouri Republicans’ preferred congressional map, delivering the state GOP its third high court setback this month. The effort sought to increase Republican partisan control in the 2026 midterm elections.

The ruling means Missouri’s congressional delegation will be decided using the existing map, which is expected to favor Republicans over Democrats by a 6 to 2 margin. The map passed last year could have widened that advantage to 7 to 1.

Voting is already underway using the existing map, which Missouri passed in 2022. The justices said state law left no room for another switch after ballots had already been printed and voting had begun.

“In short, as a matter of state law, the 2022 map — not the 2025 map — must be used in the 2026 congressional election,” the justices said in an opinion issued without any noted dissents.

The unsigned per curiam opinion also warned against changing maps during an election already in progress. “At this late date, ordering reversion to the 2025 map in the midst of an ongoing election would usher in electoral chaos,” the court said.

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled in early September that the 2022 map was the lawful choice for the midterms. It also said voters would decide through a November ballot measure whether to approve the 2025 map for future use.

That state court decision sided with Richard von Glahn, who supported the referendum through his group, People Not Politicians. Missouri had sought to use the 2025 map for the November election while preventing the ballot measure from going before voters.

The state then asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Missouri Supreme Court ruling. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who handles emergency litigation from Missouri, rejected that effort on Sept. 8.

Immediately afterward, Trump appointed federal district judge Stephen Clark ordered Missouri to use the 2025 map in a separate case filed by Republican congressional candidates. People Not Politicians and von Glahn returned to Washington and asked the Supreme Court to stop Clark’s order.

The full Supreme Court did so on Sept. 10 through an unsigned order that offered no explanation and recorded no dissent. Although that appeared to settle the dispute, another federal ruling brought the fight roaring back.

On Monday, a three judge federal appellate panel composed of GOP appointees said Missouri must use the 2025 map because the state had used it for the August primary. The 8th Circuit panel said it was relying on the federal Constitution rather than reviewing the Missouri Supreme Court’s interpretation of the state constitution.

Missouri’s Supreme Court had said the state’s own delays resulted in the 2025 map being used during the primary even though it should not have been. On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court noted that Missouri officials understood the risks but still proceeded with that map for the primary.

The federal appellate panel told Clark to issue a new injunction requiring the 2025 map, but it paused that instruction for one week so the Supreme Court could respond. Friday’s ruling rejected the appellate panel’s latest move.

People Not Politicians and von Glahn had accused the circuit panel of attempting to circumvent the Supreme Court’s Sept. 10 order. They asked the justices to clarify that the earlier order “means what it says: the Eighth Circuit cannot evade it by directing entry of a permanent injunction requiring exactly the same thing.”

The Supreme Court made its answer unmistakable. “The District Court and Court of Appeals should not enjoin or otherwise prohibit the use of the 2022 map in the 2026 congressional election in Missouri,” the justices said, adding: “And the District Court and Court of Appeals should not order or otherwise require Missouri to use the 2025 map in the 2026 congressional election in Missouri.”

A group led by Republican Rep. Bob Onder, who is seeking another term, opposed Supreme Court intervention. State officials also argued against the emergency application and challenged whether People Not Politicians and von Glahn had legal standing.

The state told the justices “the honest truth” was that, regardless of their decision, “Missouri will not be able to run an orderly 2026 General Election.” It cited concerns about military and overseas ballot deadlines, voter confusion, candidate confusion and challenges involving the primary results.

In their final reply, von Glahn and his group argued that the larger threat was changing congressional maps after voting had started. With Friday’s ruling, the Supreme Court made clear that the November election must proceed under the 2022 map.

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