Missouri congressional candidates have no idea where to campaign or which voters to court. That's because, with just months to go until the primary, GOP state lawmakers can't decide on a voting map.

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Usually at this point in an election season, Missouri candidates have already been scouring their congressional districts to find the right message for primary voters. But this year, things are different, thanks to a contest over redistricting. St. Louis Public Radio's Jason Rosenbaum reports.

JASON ROSENBAUM, BYLINE: On a late April morning, Democrat Ray Reed is speaking in front of a group of seniors in the St. Louis County town of Brentwood.

RAY REED: I'm running to unseat Ann Wagner this time around.

ROSENBAUM: Wagner, a Republican congresswoman, represents suburbs outside of the city of St. Louis. But Reed has no idea if the people he's speaking to will actually get to vote for him. That's because the state's eight congressional districts still haven't been redrawn, thanks to disagreements among Republicans in the state legislature.

REED: So it really kind of speaks to their incompetence that you have all the power, all the votes, and you guys can't get something as simple as a constitutionally required congressional map done.

ROSENBAUM: This redistricting cycle was unusual for a lot of reasons, especially since crucial data from the U.S. Census was delayed, primarily thanks to the pandemic. But Republicans have quarreled for months over a host of issues, including whether to make the overall map more favorable to the GOP. Sara Walsh is caught in the middle of the stalemate as a Republican contender for a congressional seat in central and western Missouri.

SARA WALSH: You know, just as is the story of my life, you just work extra hard.

ROSENBAUM: She says she's campaigning everywhere she can, even in places that may not be in the 4th District she's hoping to represent, which, no matter how it's drawn, will be wider than the state of Connecticut.

WALSH: So I've been getting out to the counties that are in the current 4th District, that are in the Senate's proposed 4th District and are in the House's proposed 4th Congressional District.

ROSENBAUM: There have been state and federal lawsuits filed over the Missouri redistricting impasse. The people suing seem to have a really strong argument that it would be completely unconstitutional not to change a map full of districts with unequal populations. But getting a decision from the courts may not be that simple. Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft notes that Missouri's constitution doesn't allow state judges to redraw congressional districts.

JAY ASHCROFT: They don't just get to decide we're going to do something we don't have the authority to do. I don't get to decide that I'm suddenly going to be able to pull people over like I'm a highway patrolman. I'm not.

ROSENBAUM: Federal judges could intervene, Ashcroft says. But he pointed to precedent where those judges don't get involved in cases this close to an election. Still, some don't think that precedent applies in Missouri.

TRAVIS CRUM: What would happen in a state like Missouri is the judges would draw a least-changed map.

ROSENBAUM: Travis Crum is with the St. Louis-based Washington University School of Law.

CRUM: They would look at the map that we have. They would make very minor adjustments to achieve population equality, and then let that map go into place.

ROSENBAUM: That would mean Wagner, the 2nd District congresswoman, would be running for reelection in competitive terrain. She said in a statement she plans to run and win this year, regardless of where the lines are. In the meantime, candidates for Congress like 2nd District hopeful Trish Gunby have to continue their march toward the August 2 primary, even though she doesn't know if she's running in a district full of dense subdivisions or wide-open rural spaces. She says she's preparing for anything.

TRISH GUNBY: Then we'll just have to buy more gas and wear more tennis shoes. I mean, it's still - it's - here's a house. You drive up the driveway. You get out. You drive - I mean, it's still the same. It just takes longer.

ROSENBAUM: Missouri lawmakers have until May 13 to act before it's up to judges to untangle a bewildering mess for the state's candidates and voters. For NPR News, I'm Jason Rosenbaum in St. Louis. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.