JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Two Jackson County voters filed a lawsuit to stop Missouri’s new congressional map from being used in the 2026 elections.

The ACLU of Missouri says the suit was filed in Cole County Circuit Court on behalf of Jake Maggard and Gregg Lombardi. Both are registered voters who live in Jackson County.

The lawsuit claims that Missouri violated voters’ constitutional rights. The state implemented the new map on Dec. 11 despite a petition with more than 305,000 signatures demanding a public vote.

“By attempting to enact the new maps despite receiving more than 305,000 signatures from Missouri voters demanding a referendum, the Secretary of State is denying a longstanding tradition, judicial precedent, and our constitutional rights,” said Tori Schafer, Director of Policy and Campaigns at the ACLU of Missouri.

What the lawsuit seeks

The ACLU said it wants the court to suspend House Bill 1. The organization has asked a judge to prevent election officials from using the new congressional map until voters approve or reject it through a referendum.

The lawsuit names Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway and Secretary of State Denny Hoskins as defendants.

According to the suit, both Maggard and Lombardi live in Missouri’s Fifth Congressional District. Under the new map, they would be moved to the Fourth Congressional District.

The petition controversy

People Not Politicians submitted 305,000 signatures to Secretary Hoskins on Dec. 9, according to the ACLU. That is nearly 3 times the number required to force a public vote on the congressional map.

The ACLU argues that century-old court rulings say a referendum petition should immediately suspend a law, no verification required.

In 2017, then-Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft suspended Missouri’s right-to-work law after more than 300,000 signatures were received. His office had not yet verified the signatures or issued a certificate.

But Hoskins has taken a different approach. He said the new map will remain in effect until his office certifies the petition signatures. A process that could take until July 2026.

Timeline of legal challenges

The Missouri General Assembly approved the new congressional map on Sept. 12, 2025, during a special session.

Opponents wasted no time in filing legal challenges. By Sept. 15, 3 lawsuits had been filed along with the referendum petition.

Several lawsuits claim the redistricting process was unconstitutional. One lawsuit noted that a southeast Kansas City Voter Tabulation District was placed in both Congressional Districts 4 and 5.

The Senior Director for Redistricting at Campaign Legal Center told KCTV5 in September that this means the districts are no longer equally populated. However, Governor Mike Kehoe’s office said there was no error in the map.

On Nov. 12, Cole County Judge Christopher Limbaugh heard arguments over whether the General Assembly legally redrew the congressional districts.

On Dec. 12, court records indicated that Limbaugh suspended the case until the petition signatures are certified or rejected. He ordered Hoskins to preserve all signatures filed with his office.

In early November, AG Hanaway filed her own lawsuit against People Not Politicians. She claimed the organization was trying to take redistricting power away from the state’s General Assembly.

Missouri’s top Senate Democrat, Doug Beck, sent Hanaway a letter demanding she dismiss the case. Beck said she did not have the party’s consent to represent them in that way.

Ballot language dispute

On Nov. 13, Hoskins certified the official ballot title for the referendum question. The ballot language describes the old map as “gerrymandered” and says it “protects incumbent politicians.”

However, People Not Politicians filed a lawsuit on Nov. 20 that claims the summary statement is intentionally argumentative and creates prejudice.

The organization also argues that Hoskins is not authorized to draft a summary statement for a referendum.

A bench trial on this dispute is scheduled for Jan. 16 in Cole County.

What happens next

The court has not yet set a hearing date for Tuesday’s lawsuit.

The filing period for congressional candidates begins Feb. 24, 2026. However, with the new map in effect, they would file for the new congressional districts. This could create more complications if the map is overturned.

Missouri will hold primary elections in August and the general election in November.

Hoskins has until July 2026 to certify whether the referendum petition contains enough valid signatures. If certified, the question would go to voters in the November general election.

Hanaway and Hoskins have said they are ready to defend the redistricting in court.

Copyright 2025 KCTV. All rights reserved.

Former Nebraska U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse on Tuesday said he was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer.

Sasse, 53, made the announcement on social media, saying he learned of the disease last week and is “now marching to the beat of a faster drummer.”

“This is a tough note to write, but since a bunch of you have started to suspect something, I’ll cut to the chase,” Sasse wrote. “Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die.”

Sasse was first elected to the Senate in 2014 and won reelection in 2020. He resigned in 2023 to serve as the 13th president of the University of Florida after a contentious approval process. He left that post the following year after his wife was diagnosed with epilepsy.

Sasse was an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, and he was one of seven Republican senators to vote to convict the former president of “incitement of insurrection” after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Sasse, who has degrees from Harvard, St. John’s College and Yale, worked as an assistant secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush. He then served as president of Midland University before he ran for the Senate. Midland is a small Christian university in eastern Nebraska.

Sasse and his wife have three children.

“I’m not going down without a fight. One sub-part of God’s grace is found in the jawdropping advances science has made the past few years in immunotherapy and more,” Sasse wrote. “Death and dying aren’t the same — the process of dying is still something to be lived.”

For those who are looking for community interaction, interested in learning an old-fashioned skill, or just simply looking for a way to offset those winter blues, join McKenzie County Heritage Park & North Dakota Oil Museum, 904 2nd Ave. SW, Watford City, for another season of Wintering Well: Slow Down & Savor. Classes begin Jan. 2, 2026, and will continue the first Friday of each month through the winter, 5-7 p.m. CT..

The holiday season is a time where many remember and honor past traditions, though it can also be a time where the usual business of life gets ramped up. In this modern word, we are heavily inundated with outside pressures that tell us to “keep busy and work harder”. Technology can be a constant pull, drawing us away from quiet connection.

But, for many of the people who settled and lived in this region before us, life, the holidays and winter in general carried a different feeling altogether. The winter season was often a time that was looked forward to and folks seemed more willing to go along with nature rather than struggling against it. Winter is a time of rest and renewal. A time for life to slow, and strength and energy to be gathered for spring, summer and fall. With the cold winter outside their doors, people were content to sit by the fire, catch up with friends and family, and engage in pastimes that were both fun and functional.

These Hygge style Wintering Well evenings offer an opportunity to slow down and savor this time of year. Bring a crocheting, knitting or embroidery project or start a new one. Even if you have no experience with these skills, bring a crochet hook and some yarn and other participants can help you get started. In addition to learning new skills and practicing existing ones, there is good conversation to share, new relationships to foster and snacks will be served.

These classes are intended for adults, but tweens who want to learn are welcome to come along with their parents. There is no charge to join, but donations are always welcome.

Take a step back from technology and busy schedules to reconnect with the old-fashioned life at these cozy, creative sessions, and Winter Well this season.

For more information, visit McKenzie County Heritage Park & North Dakota Oil Museum’s Facebook page or call them at 701-842-6434.