Utah Judge Rejects GOP Map, Adopts Democratic-Leaning District

A Utah state judge has ruled that the Republican-controlled legislature's proposed congressional map violates the state's ban on partisan gerrymandering, ordering the adoption of an alternative map that creates a Democratic-leaning district centered on Salt Lake County for the 2026 midterm elections.

Third District Judge Dianna Gibson issued the decision late Monday, rejecting the legislature's Map C and selecting Map 1, which was submitted by plaintiffs in a long-running lawsuit. The ruling came just ahead of a November 10 deadline set by Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson to finalize boundaries for election preparations. Gibson determined that Map C, which divided Salt Lake and Davis counties into multiple districts, intentionally diluted the voting power of urban areas around Salt Lake City, contravening Utah's Proposition 4. That 2018 voter-approved ballot initiative established an independent redistricting commission and prohibited maps drawn for partisan advantage.

In her order, Gibson described the legislature's proposal as an "extreme partisan outlier," noting that it created four districts where no Democratic statewide candidates had won in recent elections. She imposed a...