Utah Legislature holds public hearings on party-neutral Congressional District Board; judge denies GOP redistricting map proposal

States and counties across the U.S. have seen a recent push by Republi­can lawmakers, following a Presidential recommen­dation, to redistrict their boundaries and secure more congressional seats for the party, and Utah is no exception, with state boundaries being up for re­view this year ahead of the 2026 midterms. This last week, the Utah Legislature proposed a series of maps, with the congressional pick favoring Republicans by denying the Democratic party a seat in Democrat-majority Salt Lake - a move prompting several bodies, including the League of Women Voters of Utah, the Mormon Women for Ethical Government and the legally-appointed Better Boundaries Board, insti­tuted by narrow majority vote on 2018’s Proposition 4, to file suit.

Left to right:

• The plaintiff-proposed map selected by the judge, showing Salt Lake City now functionally its own unified voting district. Via Campaign Legal Center.

• The legislature-proposed map, rejected by the judge for partisan bias. Via Utah State Legislature.

On Monday, November 10, Utah Judge Dianna Gibson rejected the leg­islature’s proposed map, stating Republicans had improperly gerrymandered the district based on politi­cal lines instead of true de­mographic representation, and instead ruled in favor of one of the Better Boundary Board maps which would likely grant Democrats one seat representing the Democrat majority Salt Lake City district - previ­ously, Salt Lake had its population spread across four different voting dis­tricts, resulting in Utah’s completely Republican rep­resentation in the House. Judge Gibson wrote of her decision, “Map C fails in many ways to comply with Proposition 4. First, Map C was drawn with partisan political data on display. Map C does not abide by Proposition 4’s traditional redistricting criteria ‘to the greatest extent practicable.’ And, based on the evidence presented, the Court finds that Map C was drawn with the purpose to favor Republicans - a conclusion that follows from even S.B. 1011’s metric for partisan intent - and it unduly favors Republicans and disfavors Democrats.”

On the same night, in places like Parowan, Utah, the Legislature was holding public hearings on the topic of the Republican Party’s push to dissolve the Utah law that institutes the inde­pendent Boundary Board. The board, comprised of members selected respectively by; the Governor, the Senate President, the House President, the Repub­lican party president, the Democrat party president, jointly ap­pointed by the Senate and House Leaders and one jointly ap­pointed by the Repub­lican and Democrat party leaders; has been responsible for the ad­ministration of Utah’s anti-gerrymandering laws since its institu­tion in 2018. Should the Republican party gather the 141,000 votes necessary for legislative action, a vote would be called for in the 2026 midterms to eliminate the board entirely, striking the law calling for its com­mission from Utah’s books.

Proponents for the board, such as the parties suing against the legislature’s Re­publican-leaning map above, claim the board is fundamental to pre­serving individual vot­ers’ rights in the state, and resisting the su­permajority’s ability to calcify state politics by invalidating the oppo­sition’s ability to vote.

Opponents of the board, including the leadership of the Re­publican party, claim the board oversteps its bounds, giving the Judiciary unchecked power to subvert the actions of the Legis­lature and removing the rightful power of the voters’ chosen representatives, bias­ing the system against the common will in favor of the few. Said Utah Republican Party Chairman Robert Ax­son, “Judge Gibson has once again exceed­ed the constitutional authority granted to Utah’s Judiciary.

After stretching the law to justify taking control of redistricting, she has now rejected Map C - the only option that respected the Legisla­ture’s constitutional role - and imposed a map of activists who are not accountable to Utahns … Prop 4 empowered unelected activists to overrule Utah voters and their elected representa­tives. This ruling given in the dead of night believes judicial power superior to the ballot box, and one judge now claims the authority to dictate Utah’s fu­ture … Judge Gibson’s dismissal of constitu­tional limits and sepa­ration of powers proves why Prop 4 must be fully repealed.”