Rick Brattin (r) slept through his civics class

25 Friday Sep 2026

Tags

5th Congressional District, Bob Onder, Congress, Denny Hoskins, Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, General Assembly, gerrymandering, HB 1, Mike Kehoe, missouri, Redistricting, Rick Brattin, right wingnuts, SCOTUS, slapdown, U.S. Supreme Court, whining

“…The Eighth Circuit’s application of Purcell was incorrect…” – People Not Politicians v. Onder, U.S. Supreme Court, September 25, 2026

Rick Brattin (r) [2013 file photo].

This evening:

Rick Brattin for Congress
[September 25, 2026]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SEPTEMBER 25, 2026
Statement from Rick Brattin on U.S. Supreme Court Ruling

(JEFFERSON CITY, MO) – State Senator Rick Brattin has released the following statement about today’s ruling:

“I am grateful to the Eighth Circuit for squarely addressing the merits of this case and stating plainly what common sense and the Constitution require: voters should not choose their nominees under one congressional map and then be forced into entirely different districts for the general election.

Today’s Supreme Court decision is a travesty for Missouri voters and for the integrity of our elections. Missouri will now conduct a congressional primary under one map and a general election under another. Voters who lawfully participated in the August primary will be moved into districts where they had no voice in choosing the nominees who will appear on their ballot in November. This is the most unprecedented form of voter disenfranchisement in American history, and Missouri voters deserve far better.

The responsibility for this chaos rests first and foremost with the Missouri Supreme Court. With the stroke of a pen, it overturned a congressional map passed by the people’s elected legislature and signed by the Governor after that map had already been used to conduct the primary election. The Eighth Circuit recognized the serious constitutional problem that decision created. Missouri voters are now being forced to live with the consequences.

This is part of a dangerous pattern of courts asserting power that belongs to the people and their elected representatives. Judges are not kings, and courts are not legislatures. Our system of government depends upon each branch respecting the constitutional authority of the others. The Missouri Supreme Court abandoned that principle in this case, usurped the authority of Missouri’s duly elected legislative and executive branches, and left Missouri voters paying the price.”

Some of the responses:

Bye Felicia, I mean Rick.

You left this part out where SCOTUS made clear this was Hoskin’s fault.

Our prayers have been answered. It must be God’s will.

We see what you did there.

The MO Constitution allows citizens to challenge through referendum any bills passed by the legislature. Hoskins tried to weasel around this constitutional provision by ignoring the MO Supreme Court. If you are unhappy about what has happened, blame falls on Hoskins.

The supreme court effed us.

Please explain how a U.S. Supreme Court with a 6-3 right wingnut majority which includes three Trump appointees is so totally biased against your interpretation of the Constitution.

Responsibility for this chaos solely rests on Denny “the clown” Hoskins and crew. Glad the Supreme Court did the correct thing.

Rick Brattin for Congress maybe follow the Constitution for once and stop forcing things on the people.
You think this is bad wait till we all organize and get to the breaking point.

I’ll summarize this for everyone: I’m butthurt because we politicians can’t pick our voters instead of them picking us.

That’s it.

Just update your resume playa. It’s fine

If this is really how you interpret this whole process, you shouldn’t be anywhere near the halls of Congress.

You can’t even cheat your way to DC.

Where is your statement responding to the GOP asking for a redo on a candidate cause they want to ditch you?

Solely on Denny Hoskins!

This right wingnut overreach fail has many cooks.

Senator Brattin’s statement gets the facts backwards. The chaos Missouri voters are now facing traces directly to the actions of Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, not the Missouri Supreme Court.
When opponents of the 2025 GOP-drawn map gathered enough signatures to force a referendum, Hoskins waited until the legal deadline to act, then rejected the referendum outright, arguing that redistricting plans aren’t subject to the referendum process at all, a position Missouri courts ultimately did not accept. The Missouri Supreme Court had already ruled in May that qualifying the referendum would suspend the 2025 map, yet the court found Hoskins proceeded with the GOP map in the August primaries anyway, even though it hadn’t been approved by voters.
That’s not a court “overturning” a legislative map with “the stroke of a pen.” It’s a Secretary of State ignoring the plain terms of Article III, Section 52 of the Missouri Constitution, which reserves to the people the power to approve or reject laws passed by the General Assembly through referendum. Hoskins’ office made the call that this constitutional referendum right didn’t apply to redistricting, and the courts said otherwise.
The consequences of that decision escalated further: the Missouri Supreme Court held Hoskins in contempt for failing to comply with its ruling that the 2025 map had to be put on hold while the referendum took place, and he was found in contempt a second time in September for directing local election authorities to use the new map after a court order barred it. Two separate contempt findings against a sitting Secretary of State for defying the state’s highest court is not “judicial overreach.” It’s a public official refusing to follow the law as written in Missouri’s own Constitution.
If Missouri voters are now facing a primary under one map and a general election under another, that is the direct result of Hoskins’s office gambling that it could run out the clock on a valid referendum rather than following the Missouri Constitution’s requirements. The responsibility for this “unprecedented” situation belongs with the Secretary of State who created it, not the court that repeatedly told him to follow the law.

So Rick doesn’t want to have to follow the law. What a pathetic loser.

The people should sue the mo supreme court

Slept through the same civics class with Rick.

A Travesty? Sorry pretty boy. This was a mostly conservative court who voted unanimously. The Travesty is Missouris SS @ AG Trying to go against the will of the people. Come November it will won’t happen again.

Cry more. You guys brought this on yourselves.

Time to update that Indeed.com Resume Rick. You’re gonna have to get a real job like the rest of us 🤷‍♂️

Hey cry baby, play by the rules. The Missouri Supreme Court said you couldn’t use the map until it was voted on by the people of Missouri, but you did it anyway. Now suffer the consequences for your action.

No Rick this only a travesty for all you maga cult followers. You know can’t win now.

Here’s one for you Rick, the legislature listens to the people of Missouri. Period. If you can’t read the constitution you have no business serving in the legislature. You and your party started this mess and lost by your own doing. Thank God for the Missouri Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court. These little side courts need to go back to school.

The redistributed map should have never been done in the first place.

It’s over Rick. You lose.

Wrong. It’s Denny Hoskins fault.
I used to respect you and Hoskins but both of you are an embarassment to our state. Maybe look at this at what can be learned rather than try to shift blame.

Hoskins, Hannaway, and Kehoe purposely created this chaos and ignored the constitution. They tried to disenfranchise voters, wasted tax dollars, and forced an illegal map for political gain at the request of the POTUS. Every single elected official who participated in this stunt needs to be removed from office.

Glad your illegal gerrymandering was defeated.

“travesty” of your own making. 🙄 spare me

And you aren’t the dictator! Now get out and pick up the campaign signs in areas where they do not belong and take a seat in the back of the bus. You and your cronies are no longer driving.

You’ve got this wrong. Responsibility for this debacle rests squarely on governor Kehoe.

Rick, you are as sick as the rest that caused this mess.

What is wrong with you?

Moron, none of this would have been necessary if you and your moron buddies in Jeff City had just done your jobs in the first place. Moron.

Maybe we should have gotten to vote on your map you are so proud of..instead of you and your buddies deciding what we needed

LMAO.
Such a sad story, Trumper. Maybe you should have tried “conservative.” Good luck. Wish I could vote in your district!

cheaters always cheat ricky

The responsibility for this chaos rests first and foremost with SoS Hoskins who ignored the Missouri Constitution and tried unsuccessfully to impost his partisan views into the voting process. His job was NEVER to interpret the Missouri Constitution but to perform his job of certifying the signatures presented to him.
I do so hope you lose because you clearly do not understand the law.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Rick Brattin is a loser.
[….]

Trying to rig an election is wrong, and un-American!

Previously:

HB 1: Gerrymander this (September 9, 2025)

Can play with AI, can’t be bothered to certify petition signatures (June 7, 2026)

Denny Hoskins (r) is a pre-eminent legal scholar and final arbiter of the Missouri Constitution, said no one ever… (August 4, 2026)

Missouri Supreme Court: “HB 1 congressional redistricting, yeah, no.” (September 3, 2026)

Favorite whine (September 3, 2026)

Gov. Mike Kehoe (r) thinks we’re all ignorant and stupid (September 3, 2026)

What the Missouri Supreme Court said (September 3, 2026)

Missouri Supreme Court slaps down Denny Hoskins (r)….again (September 4, 2026)

Tears in the rain (September 4, 2026)

Denny Hoskins (r): “…unclean hands…” (September 7, 2026)

Justice Brett Kavanaugh – SCOTUS: “Yeah, no.” (September 8, 2026)

Missouri Supreme Court order to Denny Hoskins (r): “…show cause…” (September 9, 2026)

Missed it by that much (September 9, 2026)

Salus populi suprema lex esto (September 10, 2026)

Stupid is as stupid does (September 10, 2026)

Denny Hoskins (r) and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (September 10, 2026)

So sad (September 10, 2026)

Judicial contempt has a way of making one focus (September 11, 2026)

Denny Hoskins (r) and friends whiff at the U.S. Supreme Court (September 25, 2026)

A paragraph for Missouri history (September 25, 2026)

A paragraph for Missouri history

25 Friday Sep 2026

Posted by Michael Bersin in Congress, Missouri General Assembly, Missouri Governor

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bob Onder, Congress, Denny Hoskins, Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, General Assembly, gerrymandering, HB 1, Mike Kehoe, Redistricting, right wingnuts, SCOTUS, slapdown, U.S. Supreme Court

Cutting it a little close, and well past the time it should have been settled, we will use the 2022 Congressional District map in Missouri for the 2026 general election.

“…The Eighth Circuit’s application of Purcell was incorrect. Even though “federal courts should not impose changes close to an election, States are free to decide for themselves whether last-minute changes to an election are in their best imposed by federal law. [….] Moreover, in this case, the Missouri Supreme Court was not responsible for the late-breaking changes. On the contrary, in an opinion back in May 2026, well before the primary election, the Missouri Supreme Court stated that the 2025 map would not take effect until approved by the voters in an intervening referendum, at least if the referendum petition was legally sufficient. [….] So in the several-month period before the August primary election, the Missouri Secretary of State was well aware that conducting the August primary election with the 2025 map carried significant risks. The Secretary nonetheless chose to proceed with the 2025 map for the primary…” – People Not Politicians v. Onder, U.S. Supreme Court, September 25, 2026

Denny Hoskins (r) [2023 file photo]

We likes this so much, let’s highlight the detail again.

“…So in the several-month period before the August primary election, the Missouri Secretary of State was well aware that conducting the August primary election with the 2025 map carried significant risks. The Secretary nonetheless chose to proceed with the 2025 map for the primary…”

Denny Hoskins (r) [2022 file photo].

Somebody did swing a bat today. It wasn’t Denny Hoskins (r).

It gets better.

…In short, as a matter of state law, the 2022 map—not the 2025 map—must be used in the 2026 congressional election…

…In the wake of that recent Missouri Supreme Court decision, a group of voters and candidates (collectively, plaintiffs) sued in federal court. They contended that the U. S. Constitution requires Missouri to use the 2025 map in the 2026 election—even though the 2025 map cannot take effect under Missouri law unless and until it is approved by Missouri voters in the 2026 election.

In two orders in the last few weeks, this Court has denied such relief. In the first, the Missouri Secretary of State asked this Court to stay the September 3 decision of the Missouri Supreme Court that had prohibited use of the 2025 map in the general election. On September 8, JUSTICE KAVANAUGH, in his capacity as Circuit Justice for the Eighth Circuit, denied that request, thereby leaving the 2022 map in effect for the 2026 general election…

Denny Hoskins (r) is ~~famous~~ notorious!

…The Purcell principle applies with even greater force here. The election is not merely upcoming; it has already started. Ballots using the 2022 map have been printed and mailed. Absentee voting has already begun, as has military and overseas voting. According to local election officials in Missouri: “At this point, it is practically impossible to revert to the” 2025 “map.” Brief for Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities as Amicus Curiae in No. 26–2797 (CA8), p. 12.

At this late date, ordering reversion to the 2025 map in the midst of an ongoing election would usher in electoral chaos. Purcell protects against such disorder. The Eighth Circuit panel dealt with Purcell by casting blame on the Missouri Supreme Court for its September 3 decision reasoned, destabilized the election with its “last-minute decisio[n]” that could “potentially . . . decide the outcome of . . . party control of Congress.” ___ F. 4th, at ___, App. to
Emergency Motion 29a.

The Eighth Circuit’s application of Purcell was incorrect. Even though “federal courts should not impose changes close to an election, States are free to decide for themselves whether last-minute changes to an election are in their best interests”—subject, of course, to certain limited constraints imposed by federal law. Allen, 608 U. S., at 514 (citation omitted). Moreover, in this case, the Missouri Supreme Court was not responsible for the late-breaking changes. On the contrary, in an opinion back in May 2026, well before the primary election, the Missouri Supreme Court stated that the 2025 map would not take effect until approved by the voters in an intervening referendum, at least if the referendum petition was legally sufficient. Maggard v. State, 733 S. W. 3d 411, 419–420 (Mo. 2026); see also Healey v. State, 732 S. W. 3d 827, 836, n. 1 (Mo. 2026); NAACP Mo. State Conference v. Kehoe, 734 S. W. 3d 338, 341, n. 4 (Mo. 2026). So in the several-month period before the August primary election, the Missouri Secretary of State was well aware that conducting the August primary election with the 2025 map carried significant risks. The Secretary nonetheless chose to proceed with the 2025 map for the primary.

For those reasons, the application for stay presented to JUSTICE KAVANAUGH and by him referred to the Court is granted. The September 21, 2026, mandate and September 22, 2026, order entered by the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in No. 26–2797, and the September 21, 2026, and September 22, 2026, injunctions entered by the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, No. 4:26–cv–01424, ECF Docs. 57 and 60, are stayed absent any further order of this Court lifting such stays. The prior stay entered by this Court on September 10, 2026, likewise lifting that stay. 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. 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.

It is so ordered.

Dayam.

Catharine Hanaway (r) has a sad, too.

Catherine Hanaway (r) [2014 file photo].