Proposition A: Referendum on House Bill 1 (2025 Congressional Map)
Statewide — all of Missouri
General election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026
- Citizen referendum petition (2026-R004) organized by People Not Politicians against House Bill 1 of the 2025 second extraordinary session, which the legislature passed in September 2025 and Gov. Mike Kehoe signed on September 28, 2025. The campaign delivered more than 300,000 signatures on December 9, 2025. Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected the referendum on August 4, 2026; on September 3, 2026 the Missouri Supreme Court unanimously ordered it certified and placed on the November ballot and barred use of the HB 1 map unless voters approve it. The 2022 map governs the November 2026 election.[2][3][4]
The question on the ballot
Do the people of the state of Missouri approve the act of the General Assembly entitled “House Bill No. 1 (2025 Second Extraordinary Session),” which repeals Missouri’s existing congressional plan, and replaces it with new congressional boundaries that keep more counties intact? State and local governmental entities estimate no costs or savings.[1]
A yes vote approves House Bill 1, which redraws Missouri's eight congressional districts; a no vote repeals it and leaves in place the boundaries enacted in 2022. Ballotpedia and news reports describe the HB 1 map as dividing the Kansas City-based 5th District and giving Republicans an advantage in seven of eight districts, compared with six under the 2022 map. Per the Fair Ballot Language the measure would have no impact on taxes; state and local governmental entities estimate no costs or savings.[1][2][5]
A YES vote means
“A ‘yes’ vote will approve the act of the General Assembly entitled ‘House Bill No. 1 (2025 Extraordinary Session),’ which redraws the congressional district boundaries.” (Secretary of State, Fair Ballot Language)
A NO vote means
“A ‘no’ vote will leave in place the congressional district boundaries enacted in 2022.” (Secretary of State, Fair Ballot Language)
The law today
Missouri's congressional districts are those enacted in 2022; a "no" vote leaves them in place, and they govern the November 2026 election. A "yes" vote approves House Bill 1 (2025 Extraordinary Session), which redraws the boundaries.[1][9]
Official fiscal estimate
Official ballot statement: State and local governmental entities estimate no costs or savings. The Fair Ballot Language adds that, if passed, the measure will have no impact on taxes.[1]
Arguments made for
- Gov. Mike Kehoe, who called the special session, said after the Supreme Court's ruling: "I think the legislature did a good job passing what was a more fair and balanced map for Missouri. The courts didn't see it that way." He also called it "a map that represents Missouri's values much better than what we had."[5]
- Byron Keelin, president of Freedom Principle Missouri: "The courts made a mockery of what the legislators are supposed to do when it comes to congressional maps, and they should have just said that you don't get to undo something of that importance like that."[9]
Arguments made against
- People Not Politicians (campaign for a No vote): "Politicians shouldn't be slicing and dicing communities to pick their voters — voters should be picking their politicians."[6]
- People Not Politicians website: "Politicians passed a plan to rig Missouri's voting districts to guarantee their own re-elections. It's nothing more than a power grab."[6]
On record in support
- Gov. Mike Kehoe, who called lawmakers into special session to redraw the map and has said he has no regrets about pushing it forward.[5]
- Put Missouri First, the political action committee formed to oppose the referendum petition and uphold the map.[7]
- Missouri Republican State Committee (resolution asking for a "yes" vote on Proposition A).[7]
- U.S. Rep. Mark Alford (R-Raymore), who said he will advocate for the map on the ballot.[7]
- Freedom Principle Missouri (president Byron Keelin).[9]
- Act for Missouri, a conservative group the Missouri Independent reports backs a vote in favor of the 2025 map.[7]
Campaign money
Put Missouri First (opposed the referendum, supports the map) had raised $3.1 million overall as of the July 2026 reports, including $13,788 in the second quarter; it reported less than $20,000 in donations from June 30 to late September and had spent $2.9 million, mostly on fighting the petition drive and the court case. People Not Politicians raised almost $1 million in the second quarter of 2026 and had bought almost $800,000 in television ads through Election Day. October quarterly totals were not found.[7][8]
Research notes & limits
Official ballot title, fiscal statement and Fair Ballot Language are quoted verbatim (machine-checked) from the Missouri Secretary of State's certified-measure page. Missouri publishes no state voter pamphlet with pro/con arguments, so arguments are from campaign materials and news reports. In a veto referendum a Yes vote upholds the law, so a yes vote on Proposition A approves HB 1. The registered yes committee is Put Missouri First (about $3.1 million, mostly national Republican groups per Ballotpedia); its website returned HTTP 403 and was not bypassed, so the pro argument is the governor's statement rather than a campaign statement and each side has one statement (a second People Not Politicians quote from the Missouri Independent was dropped to match). The Ballotpedia summary of the map's partisan effect is attributed to news reports it quotes, and the U.S. Supreme Court's action blocking use of the 2025 map in 2026 is from the KCUR report.
Sources · 9
Researched 2026-10-19. Green citations are official government records.
- 1.2026 Ballot Measures (certified for the November 3, 2026 general election) · Missouri Secretary of State Official record
- 2.Missouri Proposition A, Congressional Map Referendum (2026) · Ballotpedia Reference
- 3.BREAKING: Supreme Court Clears Map Referendum for November Ballot · The Missouri Times News report
- 4.Missouri set to enact gerrymandered map despite 300K signatures for repeal referendum · Missouri Independent · 2025-12-09 News report
- 5.With Missouri's Trump-backed redistricting plan in tatters, Gov. Mike Kehoe has no regrets · KCUR (St. Louis Public Radio) · 2026-09-30 News report
- 6.People Not Politicians · People Not Politicians campaign Candidate's own words
- 7.Missouri Republicans scramble to launch late campaigns on two ballot measures · Missouri Independent · 2026-09-29 News report
- 8.Missouri ballot measure campaigns dominate fundraising, ad spending for primary · Missouri Independent · 2026-07-16 News report
- 9.Prop A asks voters to pick their congressional district · ABC17 News (KMIZ) · 2026-09-28 News report