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Utah joins redistricting effort; who wins the seats?

September 8, 2025 | | Print Article

Redistricting actions in several states may now see Utah join the effort.

Leaders in the state filed an emergency petition in response to a ruling by District Judge Dianna Gibson ordering the state’s congressional maps to be redrawn, as the battle could open the door for Democrats to gain a seat in the red state.

“Time is of the essence in obtaining an answer,” lawyers wrote in the appeal to the Utah Supreme Court. “The remedial order harms the Legislature, and disregards what the district court has determined is the proper will of the people, by requiring the Legislature to draw an alternative map using a process that does not comply with Proposition 4. To be meaningful, extraordinary relief must avoid that harm.”

Lawmakers will have to ditch existing maps and have new ones ready before the 2026 midterms, after Gibson’s ruling, which found that current maps can’t be used “in any future elections.” Gibson “proposed a timeline to redraw the political boundaries to comply with a voter-led initiative creating an independent redistricting commission,” according to KSL.com.

“The people of Utah are entitled to proceed in the 2026 election with a lawful congressional plan designed in compliance with Proposition 4’s traditional redistricting standards and its prohibition on partisan gerrymandering,” the judge ruled, denying state lawmakers’ request to stay her earlier ruling.

“By granting a stay and proceeding with the 2026 election under the current 2021 Congressional Plan, this court would be sanctioning the Legislature’s violation of the people’s constitutional right to reform their government through redistricting legislation,” Gibson added.

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According to KSL.com:

In its appeal to the Utah Supreme Court, the state argued that it is stuck between having new congressional maps in place or “new congressional maps resulting from a process that follows all of Proposition 4” but not both, with the short time frame. That’s because it requires “‘adequate time’ for an independent redistricting commission (or the chief justice) to recommend a map,” lawyers for the state argue.

They add that not receiving an injunction from the district court “inflicts a grave separation-of-powers injury on the Legislature,” as well. They also ask for HB2004 to “remain in place until remedial proceedings and any appeals are finally resolved.”

President Donald Trump won Utah by nearly 22 points last November, and Republicans control the state Legislature.

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The president has criticized Gibson’s ruling as “absolutely Unconstitutional.”

“How did such a wonderful Republican State like Utah, which I won in every Election, end up with so many Radical Left Judges? … This incredible State sent four great Republicans to Congress, and we want to keep it that way,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Frieda Powers
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