We won in court (again)

The GOP did literally everything it could to steal Missouri.

But justice prevailed.

We have now (hopefully) reached the conclusion of the Missouri redistricting wars.

This past Tuesday, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Missouri Republicans in a last-ditch effort to reimplement their broken, brutal gerrymander before the November midterms. The issue was sent to the United States Supreme Court for a third (and hopefully final) time to determine district lines.

And even in a 6-3 Republican court, we won! Ann Wagner will have to face the most competitive election of her life, and we can beat her.

RUSH A CONTRIBUTION

I want to give a quick timeline of how we got here, every dirty trick the GOP has done to save Ann Wagner, and what we have to do over the next 36 days.

A bit of background

To give you the TLDR: the Republicans kept desperately trying to change the rules and rig the maps to sow confusion. While they might argue they’re fighting this battle in the name of “fair representation,” the outcome is really to sow distrust in our electoral system so they can cling to their narrow majorities in Congress. Republicans hoped this redistricting chaos would cause folks to simply sit this one out and they’d clinch a win. We have a chance to prove them wrong.

So let me explain what’s happened:

FIRST: In 2025, Missouri Republicans jammed through a brutal, mid-decade gerrymander under the orders of President Trump to give MAGA extremists like my opponent, Ann Wagner, a more favorable map for the midterms. Already, Trump and Republicans knew their unpopular agenda wasn’t sitting well with the voters, so instead of running on their failed record of inflation, wars, and corruption, they decided to cheat instead of compete.

THEN: The gerrymandered map was finalized by the state courts earlier this year, handing MAGA Congresswoman Ann Wagner a major win in her reelection campaign. Since then, we’ve been operating with this map in mind, meeting folks across the district and winning over voters the honest and hard way. In fact, our primary was run under this gerrymandered map.

THAT WAS UNTIL: Last month, when the Missouri Supreme Court called the new map “unconstitutional” and threw it out, dealing a major blow to Republicans’ plan to cling to their narrow House majority. It took the effort of over 300,000 Missourians to call for the courts to weigh in and argue that the state legislature had no right to choose their voters.

The Missouri Supreme Court sided with the people, citing that the new maps should’ve been decided by a voter referendum, not jammed through by the legislature.

This single-handedly changed our race and put us even closer to flipping this district blue for the first time in 30 years.

BUT: Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins tried to usurp the will of the courts and the people by filing multiple emergency appeals to federal appeals courts, including the United States Supreme Court, to reinstate their gerrymander.

Republicans were arguing that if the primaries were run under the gerrymandered map, it wouldn’t be fair to revert to the old maps for November. The Supreme Court didn’t buy it and blocked these attempts, letting the Missouri Supreme Court’s decision stand.

We and the rest of the state thought this hold would finally put these redistricting wars to rest. Absentee ballots were printed with the old maps in mind and sent out to our troops and Missouri voters overseas.

SO: The conservative 8th Circuit Court ruled in favor of Missouri Republicans, sowing pandemonium and confusion for voters who were unsure if their cast ballots would even count. Then it was up to the Supreme Court to make a final decision at the last minute.

AND NOW: The Supreme Court just ruled in our favor, again!! We can do this!!

This race is on. Ann Wagner is in the fight of her life.

With mere days to go until our final FEC filing deadline, and under 40 days left until the election, this is a critical time.

Desperate to hide from the results of Trump’s failing economy, failing war, and failing presidency, they tried to rig the maps. Ann Wagner is afraid. We just got another poll last week (from a Republican firm!) showing a one point race. She has to face accountability for her actions, and is desperate to escape it.

Now, I need your help. Ann Wagner will throw everything she has into spreading lies about me. She’s sitting on a $4 million war chest, and her Super PAC friends have millions more. When I get to Congress, I’ll fight to get money out of politics. But right now, I need your help to fight back. Can you chip in $10, $5, or any amount today?

HELP ME WIN

I’ll never stop fighting for you,

Fred Wellman

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