A judge has directed the Utah legislature to redraw its congressional districts ahead of next year’s midterm elections, ruling that the current map unlawfully favors Republicans.
Judge Dianna Gibson, in a detailed 76-page order, instructed lawmakers to pass a “remedial congressional map” by the end of September. State legislators have indicated plans to appeal, potentially sending the case to the Utah Supreme Court and even the U.S. Supreme Court.
Gibson’s ruling follows national debates over gerrymandering highlighted by disputes in Texas and California. Gerrymandering—the practice of reshaping district lines to favor a political party—is criticized for diluting voter influence.
The Utah lawsuit stems from redistricting changes initiated in 2018. That year, voters approved Proposition 4, or the “Better Boundaries” initiative, aimed at reforming the process and creating an independent commission to oversee redistricting.
Two years later, the state legislature passed a bill nullifying that measure, reducing the commission to an advisory role. Lawmakers then bypassed the commission entirely, drawing maps that heavily favored Republicans.
The resulting map split Salt Lake City into four districts. Voting rights groups, including the League of Women Voters of Utah and Mormon Women for Ethical Government, argued the plan illegally fragmented the state’s only Democratic-leaning urban area, violating Proposition 4 standards.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, cautioned ahead of Gibson’s ruling that “almost anything promoted as an ‘independent commission’ is often a strategy to give Democrats an edge they can’t win through fair elections.”
“We the people need to halt this trend. To do so, we must first grasp what these independent commissions truly represent,” Lee wrote in a post on X. “In a state like Utah, they’re essentially a mechanism for the left to grab power they can’t get through democratic elections.”
Utah’s redistricting conflict follows Texas’ legislature approving new maps favoring Republicans this month. President Donald Trump celebrated the move as a “BIG WIN,” while Democrats in the state temporarily left in protest.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, countered what he called a Trump-led power grab by proposing to suspend his state’s independently drawn map and replace it through a special election this year. Newsom said Democrats need to “play hardball” to counter a Republican Party led by Trump. Trump responded on Monday, pledging to sue Newsom over the plan.
