Denny Hoskins
Denny Hoskins is Missouri's secretary of state. ExtremismLedger includes Hoskins because the Supreme Court of Missouri found that his September 8, 2026 directive concerning congressional districts violated the court's election-related injunction and held that he was in civil contempt. The court also found that he corrected the directive and purged the contempt, and it imposed no commitment or fine. Official biography · Judgment of Civil Contempt
Referendum petition and certification
Referendum petition 2026-R004 challenged House Bill 1, congressional-redistricting legislation passed during Missouri's 2025 Second Extraordinary Session. On October 14, 2025, the Secretary of State's office approved the petition as to form for circulation; that approval addressed technical form rather than the petition's substantive legality. Proponents submitted the petition on December 9, 2025. The Supreme Court of Missouri later held that the filing was timely and that it contained at least the minimum number of signatures required by the Missouri Constitution. Official docket appendix · Supreme Court of Missouri opinion
On August 4, 2026, Hoskins issued a Certificate of Insufficiency. He concluded that the Missouri Constitution did not authorize a referendum on congressional-redistricting legislation and directed that the petition not appear on the November 2026 ballot. Supreme Court of Missouri opinion
September court orders
On September 3, 2026, the Supreme Court of Missouri unanimously rejected Hoskins' constitutional conclusion. It held that petition 2026-R004 was legal, sufficient, and timely; that the Missouri Constitution permits a referendum on congressional-redistricting legislation; and that House Bill 1 had not taken effect. The court ordered Hoskins to certify the referendum and place it on the November 2026 ballot. It also restrained and enjoined Hoskins and those acting with him from implementing, using, or mandating the House Bill 1 congressional districts unless voters approved the measure. Supreme Court of Missouri opinion
On September 8, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri entered a temporary restraining order barring use of any congressional map other than the House Bill 1 map. Hoskins' Elections Division then directed local election authorities to use that map and cited the federal order. The Supreme Court of Missouri ordered Hoskins to show cause why the directive did not violate its September 3 injunction. In its later contempt judgment, the state court held that the federal order did not require Hoskins to issue an affirmative directive and did not relieve him of the obligation to comply with the state injunction. Federal-court record and September 8 directive · Order to show cause · Judgment of Civil Contempt
On September 10, the Supreme Court of the United States stayed the federal temporary restraining order. Hoskins then instructed local election authorities to use Missouri's 2022 congressional districts. The Supreme Court of Missouri found that his September 8 directive had violated its injunction and that he was in civil contempt. It also found that the corrective directive purged the contempt and therefore imposed no commitment or fine. Supreme Court of the United States stay · Judgment of Civil Contempt
Eighth Circuit ruling and Supreme Court stay
On September 21, 2026, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, in Onder v. Missouri, No. 26-2797, ruled that using the 2022 congressional map for the November 2026 general election violates the U.S. Constitution and directed the district court to enter a permanent injunction requiring use of the 2025 House Bill 1 map. The panel stayed its own ruling until 5 p.m. on September 28, 2026 to allow for Supreme Court review. Appeals court says Missouri must use 2025 congressional map · Appeals courts rules for GOP-leaning map in Missouri, pending Supreme Court review
On the night of September 22, 2026, People Not Politicians and Richard von Glahn filed a renewed emergency application asking the Supreme Court of the United States to block enforcement of the Eighth Circuit's ruling. Justice Brett Kavanaugh directed Hoskins and the other respondents to file a response by 1 p.m. CDT on September 23, 2026. While the application was pending, Missouri's 2022 map remained the map in operational use, amid county-clerk warnings about ballot-preparation deadlines. Federal Appeals Court rules for use of Republican-designed map, emergency appeal filed · Missouri redistricting fight returns to US Supreme Court for third time · County clerk offices warn residents of ballot changes amid congressional map lawsuits
On September 25, 2026, the Supreme Court granted the application in a per curiam opinion, People Not Politicians v. Onder, No. 26A388, with no noted dissent. It stayed the Eighth Circuit's September 21 mandate and September 22 order and the district court's September 21 and 22 injunctions, left its September 10 stay in effect, and stated that the lower federal courts should not prohibit use of the 2022 map or require use of the 2025 map in Missouri's 2026 congressional election. The Court relied principally on the rule against federal courts changing election rules close to an election, noting that ballots using the 2022 map had been printed and mailed and that voting had begun; it described the merits only as "not entirely clearcut" and did not finally decide them. The opinion also stated that the Secretary of State "was well aware that conducting the August primary election with the 2025 map carried significant risks" and "nonetheless chose to proceed with the 2025 map for the primary." Supreme Court per curiam opinion, No. 26A388 · SCOTUSblog: Supreme Court declines for the third time to allow use of the 2025 map
Portrait: Courtesy Missouri State Archives; photograph by Lindsey Megan Photography. Public-domain rights record.