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Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins found in contempt of court over congressional map dispute

The Missouri Supreme Court found Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins in contempt of court on Thursday. Chief Justice W. Brent Powell announced the decision during a hearing where the court examined whether to hold Hoskins in contempt for directing local election officials to ignore a September 3 court order.

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Hoskins did not speak during the hearing, while his attorney argued that Hoskins was forced to choose between competing court rulings. Following the hearing, Hoskins released a statement confirming he would direct election officials to use the 2022 congressional map. The dispute centered on a Republican-friendly map that could have provided the GOP an extra seat in the House of Representatives. The Missouri Supreme Court sided with opponents of the map, rejecting the plan that would have given the GOP an additional seat. This decision effectively requires the state to use a previous map that includes six winnable seats for the GOP instead of seven. The legal battle involved the group People Not Politicians, which challenged the map and filed an emergency appeal. The US Supreme Court declined to review the case, and the administration's top appellate attorney, D. John Sauer, argued that switching maps between the primary and general elections would violate the guarantee of equal protection for voters.

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