2026 Midterms State GuideMissouri
Hold on to your butter cake and Ozarks.
- PrimaryStatewideAug. 4This date has passed.
- Election DayGeneralNov. 3
Updated
Hi! It’s me, Shadrach. Apparently, I’m your civic guide today. If you’ve been complaining about how things are going (and I’ve heard you, the walls are thin), this guide will help you feel informed and able to vote in this year’s midterms. Now, hold on to your butter cake and Ozarks, and let’s get into it.
Missouri at a glance
Missouri votes on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, for all 8 U.S. House seats and five statewide ballot measures.
- Election Day
- Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026
- Voter registration
- Oct. 7: Voter registration deadline.
- U.S. House
- 8 seats
- Statewide ballot measures
- 5
Your to-do list
0 of 3 doneImportant dates
- Sept. 19UOCAVA deadline This date has passed.
- Sept. 22Excuse-based absentee voting begins. This date has passed.
- Oct. 7Voter registration deadline.
- Oct. 21Deadline for mailed absentee ballot requests to be received by the local election authority.
- Nov. 3Election Day.
What’s at stake
Missourians have experienced a bit of whiplash this cycle. Lawmakers passed a congressional map that gave Republicans a 7R-1D edge. Missouri’s high court then ruled that the map couldn't be used without voter approval, reverting the state to the old 6R-2D map for November. Missouri Republicans tried to get a federal court to reinstate the 2025 map instead, but the U.S. Supreme Court blocked that, locking in the 6R-2D map for this fall. Voters will have a chance to pitch their two cents and thumbs-up or down the map for real, which won’t change November’s elections but will impact the 2028 landscape. Beyond maps, most Missourians have money and medicine on their minds. In a 2026 SLU/You Gov poll, 47% of voters believe the economy should be the state’s top priority, while 21% believe it should be healthcare, followed by education (12%) and infrastructure (11%). Respondents were split on whether Missouri is on the right track, with 45% feeling that it is, 43% feeling it isn’t, and 12% not sure.
Who’s on your ballot
Tap a race to see the candidates.
All U.S. House of Representatives seats are up for election every two years. Find your district here.
This year, courts said snip snap to Missouri’s map. The Show-Me state used a Republican-favored Congressional map for the primaries that was then struck down by the Supreme Court in September 2026. Missourians will have to vote under the old map in the general election despite having a different landscape in the primaries.
- Shadrach’s big picture
Missouri will elect eight candidates to represent them in the U.S. House. Under the new-old map, Republicans are expected to hold six of those seats (down from seven under the map used in the primaries).
- Open seats
One. MO-6’s Rep. Graves (R) retired from office.
- The re-redistricting effect
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s (D-5) formerly-cracked district (which split Kansas City Dems into three districts) has been repaired, flipping MO-5 from red back to blue.
- Competitive districts
Cook doesn’t rank any Missouri district as competitive. MO-1 and MO-5 are ranked solidly Democrat, MO-2 is ranked likely Republican, and the rest are solidly Republican. No districts were guaranteed to either party.
Statewide ballot measures
5 to read before you go. Tap one to open it.
This amendment would 1) repeal the constitutional right to reproductive freedom; 2) prohibit abortions except in cases of "medical emergency, fetal anomaly, rape, or incest," and permit abortions in cases of rape or incest only through 12 weeks of gestation; 3) prohibit gender transition surgeries for minors, as well as the prescription or administration of cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking drugs to minors, with an exception for treatments "unrelated to the purpose of a gender transition.”
Voting yessupports repealing the constitutional right to reproductive freedom, banning abortion except in cases of medical emergency, fetal anomaly, rape, or incest (rape and incest only through 12 weeks), and banning gender transition surgeries, cross-sex hormones, and puberty blockers for minorsVoting noopposes this constitutional amendment, keeping the existing constitutional right to reproductive freedom, and not adding provisions that prohibit abortion and gender transition surgeries and proceduresMissouri voters can currently pass their own laws and constitutional changes directly (without the legislature's involvement) by gathering enough signatures to get a measure on the ballot. Right now, lawmakers can turn around and change or repeal those citizen-passed laws relatively easily. This amendment would make that much harder: lawmakers could only change or repeal a citizen-passed law if 80% of both the House and Senate agreed to send the change back to voters, and voters approved it. It would also declare the citizen initiative process itself a constitutional right, and block the legislature from making it harder to get future initiatives on the ballot (like requiring more signatures or giving people less time to collect them).
Voting yessupports letting lawmakers change or repeal a citizen-passed law only if 80% of both the House and Senate send the change back to voters and voters approve it, making the citizen initiative process a constitutional right, and blocking the legislature from making future initiatives harder to get on the ballotVoting noopposes this constitutional amendment, keeping lawmakers able to change or repeal citizen-passed laws as they can now, and leaving the initiative process without these constitutional protectionsThis amendment would create a permanent public endowment fund managed by the state, which would be invested by the state with the goal of generating earnings that could replace tax revenue and eventually eliminate state taxes.
Voting yessupports creating a permanent, state-managed public endowment fund, invested with the goal of generating earnings that could replace tax revenue and eventually eliminate state taxesVoting noopposes this constitutional amendment, so the endowment fund is not created and the state keeps funding itself as it does nowThis amendment would require the election of county sheriffs to four-year terms in most counties, with the exception of St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and St. Charles County.
Voting yessupports requiring most counties to elect their sheriffs to four-year terms, with St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and St. Charles County exemptVoting noopposes this constitutional amendment, so the constitution does not require counties to elect their sheriffsThis referendum decides whether the 2025 Republican-drawn map (suspended by the Missouri Supreme Court pending this vote) takes effect going forward. The map makes the most changes to the Kansas City area and gives Republicans a 7R-1D edge.
Voting yessupports putting the 2025 Republican-drawn congressional map, which gives Republicans a 7R-1D edge, into effect going forward (it would not change November’s elections)Voting noopposes this referendum, blocking the 2025 map and keeping the current 6R-2D map
Also on the ballot
Other races Missouri voters will decide.
- State Senate
- State House
- State Supreme Court
- Intermediate appellate courts
- School boards
- Municipal government
- Local ballot measures
Whose job is it?
Ten things government does. Tap the office that does each one.
Whose job is it to…
1 of 10
Declare a state of emergency after a hurricane or flood?
Pass it on
Know someone voting in Missouri?
Send them the guide. It takes one tap, and it saves them an evening of arguing in a group chat.
From the newsroom
How TPO has covered Missouri this cycle. Tap one to read it here.
Green Light, Red Light
Read the full day’s newsThe Supreme Court approved the Trump Administration’s voter verification system.
The Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database was created in 1986 to help agencies check the immigration status of people applying for public benefits (think: Social Security). In Friday’s 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court approved the Trump Administration’s request to use SAVE to verify voter rolls as well, overturning a lower-court order that said SAVE could wrongly remove eligible voters.
The impact on November’s midterm elections is likely limited. The order allows states to voluntarily check voters’ citizenship status through SAVE, but notes that systematically purging voter rolls is illegal within 90 days of an election.
Meanwhile, the Supremes struck down Missouri’s GOP-drawn congressional map for good on Friday, warning that switching maps after ballots have been mailed would “usher in electoral chaos.” (Catch up on the MO map saga).
__CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
Whether justice is served or subverted in American courts, we can count on perfect justice and inexhaustible mercy from the courts of heaven. The Lord’s verdict will restore what sin has broken.“The Rock—his work is perfect; all his ways are just. A faithful God, without bias, he is righteous and true.”
Deuteronomy 32:4 (CSB) (read full passage)- Read the full day’s news
Yesterday marked one year since Charlie Kirk’s assassination by a rooftop sniper at Utah Valley University. The conservative activist’s organization Turning Point USA held a “deliberate act of remembrance” in his honor at UVU, and Republicans commemorated him at their midterm convention in Dallas. The anniversary also revived debates about Kirk’s legacy, with some students protesting the memorial.
Iran-backed Houthis seized a strategic port on Yemen’s Red Sea coast yesterday after days of fighting Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces. The capture of Mokha (the chocolatey latte’s namesake) complicates Saudi Arabia’s oil exports, as Iran squeezes Hormuz shipments to the northeast (see a map we made you). U.S. crude oil passed $100/barrel yesterday, its highest since May, as U.S.-Iran fighting also escalated this week.
SCOTUS blocked Missouri from using its new congressional map in the midterms. The Republican-proposed map, which could’ve added another GOP House seat, was already used in Show-Me-State primary voting. Over 300,000 Missourians petitioned against redistricting, calling it a “power grab”; the RNC said the ruling “pulls the rug out from under” the voters who cast primary ballots last month.
LIV Golf, the rival league that poached PGA golfers using massive paydays, filed for bankruptcy Tuesday. Despite Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund driving $5B into LIV since 2022, the league puttered out without fan or TV traction, and participating golfers may never get their full bag. LIV says it’s restructuring toward player ownership and will return to the links in 2027.
Move over Thin Mints… There’s new cookies in town. Girl Scouts of the USA will expand its menu next year, debuting blueberry muffin-flavored Patch Pals for man’s best friend and crunchy oatmeal Sparkables for families avoiding the nine major food allergens. Allowing more “families and beloved pets to participate,” the new cookies will be available exclusively online starting in January (see the new boxes). The Sunshine State basked in the primary spotlight this week. State Rep. Nixon (D) took the win in the blue Senate primary, adding a tally for Democratic socialists. Trump-backed U.S. Rep. Donalds and red-turned-blue former U.S. Rep. Jolly won the gubernatorial noms. Up and to the left, a Missouri court allowed a new GOP-drawn district map to be used this November.
One story from that day’s newsletter.
Read the full day’s news
A prayer for Missouri
God our Father, guide Missouri as the midterms approach. Even with deeply divisive issues on the ballot, draw near to voters and unite them in the things that matter most. Give them unconditional love for their neighbors. Teach them to prioritize the good of their communities and the glory of Your name above all. May they cast their votes with humble conviction and hold the outcome with open hands.
Shield candidates from the temptation to win at any cost. May they lead with humility and remember that the people they seek to represent belong to You before they belong to any party. If they win, surround them with wise counsel and guide them toward decisions that serve their constituents. For those who lose, may they do so with dignity and a unifying spirit.
Guard the hearts and minds of Missourians weighed down by noise, grieved by division, or afraid of tomorrow. For You are not shaken by elections, You govern governors, and Your kingdom will not be moved.
Amen.