A federal judge ruled that Utah’s congressional map must be redrawn before next year’s elections.
District Judge Dianna Gibson ruled on Monday that the Republican-controlled Utah legislature had drawn districts counter to Utah law, preventing redistricting that favors any party. She held that the legislature had weakened and ignored its independent redistricting commission established to prevent gerrymandering.
In her ruling, Gibson said the problem lay in “the Legislature’s refusal to respect the people’s exercise of their constitutional lawmaking power and to honor the people’s right to reform their government.”
The ruling leaves the Utah legislature scrambling to redraw its districts for the midterm elections just over 14 months away. Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson asked the courts to finalize the case by November, the Associated Press reported, so that a new map could be drawn before candidates begin filing in January.
Republicans could try appealing the ruling to push the case past the deadline, allowing the state to keep the current districts until 2028.
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Utah’s four congressional districts are all Republican, due in no small part to the current map dividing Salt Lake City, a blue bastion, across each district.
The ruling comes amid a national debate on redistricting triggered by Texas Republicans’ aggressive redistricting of the state to strip Democrats of five seats. California is drawing up its own map in retaliation, with leaders from New York, Maryland, and Illinois signaling similar plans.
