The ruling, a win for Republicans, will almost certainly be decided by the Missouri Supreme Court.

The annual Governor's Ham Breakfast at the Missouri State Fair came the day after a Cole County Circuit judge ruled against a proposed referendum on the congressional map state lawmakers passed in 2025.

Missouri’s Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins said Tuesday that he wouldn’t certify a referendum seeking to undo the state’s new GOP-drawn congressional map, arguing that the effort was unconstitutional.

Hoskins says the ballot measure violates a rule to limit proposals to a single subject. Opponents are confident courts will side with them.

Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, left, the state's top elections official, speaks with people who filed their candidacy for Missouri offices at the James C. Kirkpatrick State Information Center Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, in Jefferson City.

After the defeat of Amendments 4 and 5, some are wondering if Missouri is a stealth blue state when it comes to ballot issues. The post Does Missouri vote blue for ballot issues? It’s complicated appeared first on The Beacon.

A Cole County judge could rule as early as Wednesday on whether Missouri officials wrongly blocked a proposed amendment protecting citizen-led ballot initiatives.