PRESS RELEASE: Beebe and Hueffmeier Ask Court to Enforce Missouri Law on Fifth District Republican Nomination

Kansas City, Missouri — September 17, 2026 — Former Republican candidates Micah Beebe and Brett Hueffmeier announced today that they are asking a Missouri court to enforce Missouri’s statutory process for selecting a Republican nominee for the Fifth Congressional District under the 2022 congressional map.

Beebe and Hueffmeier were candidates in the August 4 Republican primary, which was conducted under the 2025 congressional map established by House Bill 1.

The Missouri Supreme Court later held that HB 1 “did not go into effect” and that the 2022 congressional districts “remain in full force and effect” because the referendum challenging HB 1 was “legal, sufficient, and timely.” The court further stated that HB 1 “is not the law and has never been the law.” Because of this, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit—which include Beebe and Hueffmeier along with voters and members of the Republican congressional district committee in the Fifth Congressional District—assert that the August 4 primary election was a nullity and that no qualified nominee has been selected.

Beebe and Hueffmeier maintain that Missouri’s existing election statutes provide an appropriate legal remedy for determining a qualified nominee under the court-ordered return to the boundaries of the 2022 map. They contend that applying the statutory nominating-committee process is necessary in this situation and would ensure that the Republican nominee appearing on the November ballot is selected through a lawful process for the Fifth District whose voters will select their representative to Congress in November. Without that process, the plaintiffs argue, Missouri risks sending a candidate to the general election whose nomination arose from a primary conducted under congressional boundaries that the Missouri Supreme Court held did not comport with the Missouri Constitution and had never become law. In addition, Beebe and Hueffmeier fear that a candidate nominated in a null and void primary election could go to Congress but could not be seated because they had been disqualified for the general-election ballot given that the primary-derived nominations were voided under Missouri law.

The Petition asks the court to direct the Secretary of State to follow the nomination process set out in Missouri law for altered district boundaries.

“Missouri’s courts have determined that the 2022 map governs the November election,” Beebe said. “That means the Fifth District voters who will elect a representative in November did not have the opportunity to select a Republican nominee in the primary held under the 2025 map. The question is no longer which map applies. The question is how Missouri will lawfully identify the Republican nominee for the Fifth District.”

The petition relies on Missouri’s party-nomination statutes, including §§ 115.363, 115.365, and 115.367, RSMo. Together, the plaintiffs contend, those statutes provide the required process when district boundaries have changed: a party nominating committee must be constituted for the district under the operative map and act to select the party’s candidate.

• Section 115.363 governs party nomination by committee when the ordinary nomination process does not yield a lawful nominee.
• Section 115.365 identifies the congressional district committee as the relevant Republican nominating committee for a U.S. House candidate.
• Section 115.367 provides that, when district boundaries have been altered or a new district has been established, the nominating committee consists of the applicable party committee members who reside within the altered or new district.

Hueffmeier said the filing asks the court to apply the process set forth in these statutes and to order the Secretary of State to immediately notify the Missouri Republican Party to convene the congressional district committee to select a qualified candidate for the general election.

“The Missouri Supreme Court has ruled that the 2025 map never became law,” Hueffmeier said, “and a primary conducted under that map thus cannot supply the Republican nominee.”

The candidates emphasized that their filing does not question the integrity of the voters who participated in the August primary. Instead, they contend that voters, candidates, political parties, and election officials are all entitled to a process that follows the map and law governing the November election.

“This is about completing the work the courts have already required,” Beebe said. “The map question has been decided. Missouri must now apply its election statutes to ensure that the Republican nominee is selected for the Fifth District that exists today—not for a district the Missouri Supreme Court held was never legally in effect.”

With the November election approaching, Beebe and Hueffmeier are asking the court to act promptly and apply Missouri’s existing nomination statutes to the Fifth District under the operative 2022 map. They contend that a properly constituted nominating committee provides specifically for the lawful process for confirming or selecting the Republican nominee for the district that will vote in November’s election. Whether the committee reaffirms an existing candidate or selects another qualified candidate, they argue, the process will ensure that the Republican nominee is lawfully placed on the ballot for the Fifth District and that voters can have confidence in their representation in the U.S. House of Representatives.