Lawsuit alleges coordinated push to stop anti-gerrymandering campaign in Missouri
A new federal lawsuit alleges that several out-of-state companies are engaged in an effort to sabotage a campaign seeking to strike down Missouri’s congressional map through a series of mysterious contracts previously revealed by The Star.
The lawsuit was filed this week by Advanced Micro Targeting, or AMT, a national firm working with a campaign called People Not Politicians to collect signatures and force a statewide referendum vote to repeal the map.
The suit accuses four companies from Florida and Arizona of intentionally stifling the campaign, including paying signature-collectors thousands of dollars to sign contracts to stop working, harassing one employee and publishing a smear video against AMT.
The allegations come just days after The Star revealed a mysterious $5,000 contract targeting the campaign from one of the Florida companies named in the lawsuit, Vortex Elite LLC.
Revelations about the contract — and the lawsuit’s allegations — appear to illustrate a broader, tactical push to stymie Missouri from holding a referendum on the map. The effort comes amid a series of attacks from state officials and a new opposition group backed by national Republicans.
“Defendants have conspired to launch an intentional and malicious effort to interfere with AMT’s operations in Missouri, to dismantle AMT’s Missouri workforce, to prevent AMT from serving its clients in the state of Missouri, to eliminate AMT’s ability to complete a time-sensitive ballot initiative project for its client in Missouri,” the lawsuit said.
In addition to Vortex, the suit names three other companies as defendants: Let the Voters Decide and Onest Marketing, which are both based in Florida, and Synergy Wise Solutions, which is based in Arizona.
Let the Voters Decide, in a statement provided by a spokesperson, framed the lawsuit as frivolous and attacked AMT, pointing to an investigation Missouri launched against the company on Thursday.
“AMT, perhaps the most unethical business in our industry, has filed this bogus lawsuit to hide their own issues — including an ongoing investigation of their practices by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office,” the statement said.
“We will defend our company aggressively against AMT’s absurd claims,” the company said. “And anyone who reports or reads these claims really ought to consider the source.”
The Star also reached out to a company with a similar name to Vortex Elite and did not hear back. Attempts to find contact information for the other two companies were unsuccessful.
The lawsuit alleges that the defendants have poached several signature-collectors from AMT, resulting in a mass exodus of employees working for the campaign. The company wants a judge to issue a restraining order and injunction to halt the defendants from taking its employees.
As evidence of the poaching, the lawsuit includes several contracts allegedly provided to AMT employees who were gathering signatures in Missouri. Several offered $20,000 to stop working for the campaign. Another was for $30,000, the lawsuit said.
When asked about the allegations on Friday, Billy Rogers, the president and founder of AMT, said in an interview that the lawsuit spoke for itself.
“We believe that what they’re doing violates, you know, civil and possibly even some criminal statutes,” Rogers said. “We’re protecting our right to do business.”
Missouri draws national attention
The AMT lawsuit is the latest in a string of allegations and political maneuvers over the fate of Missouri’s congressional map.
Missouri has garnered national interest for its role in a redistricting fight spearheaded by President Donald Trump and millions of dollars have poured into the state from both sides of the issue.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, a Republican, has also filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block the referendum and has also asked federal immigration officials to investigate the campaign.
Meanwhile, Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins faces a lawsuit that alleges he illegally delayed the campaign by refusing to accept its paperwork and cast doubt on the validity of roughly 90,000 signatures.
The intense national focus on Missouri the campaign comes after state lawmakers redrew the state’s congressional map under pressure from the Trump administration.
Under the state’s previous map, six of the eight congressional districts are represented by Republicans, while Democrats hold two — one in Kansas City and the other in St. Louis.
The new map, signed by Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe, was redrawn to allow Republicans to control seven districts as Republicans nationwide seek to maintain control of Congress after the 2026 election.
The map takes direct aim at Kansas City and longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, carving the city’s voters into three Republican-leaning districts.
People Not Politicians launched its campaign shortly after the vote and almost immediately began collecting signatures to strike down the map through a referendum, which allows citizens to challenge bills passed by lawmakers.
The campaign has until Dec. 11 — or 90 days after the legislature adjourned — to collect enough signatures in at least six of Missouri’s eight congressional districts to force a November 2026 statewide vote.
Earlier this month, the campaign said it has collected more than 200,000 signatures around the state. It needs roughly 106,000 spread across six of the congressional districts.
This story was originally published November 24, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
