Utah judge throws out GOP congressional maps, orders them redrawn to favor more Dems

In a win for Utah Democrats, a judge has thrown out the state’s gerrymandered, pro-Republican congressional map.

Judge Dianna Gibson said on Monday in a 76-page order that the Utah State Legislature must pass a “remedial”/replacement congressional map by the end of September, according to Fox News.

The judge is giving the Legislature 30 days (Sept. 24) to draw the new maps. The current maps are enjoined from being used in future elections. Plaintiffs can also submit proposed maps. pic.twitter.com/G1MbNWToso

— Robert Gehrke (@RobertGehrke) August 26, 2025

She defended the decision by pointing to the Better Boundaries initiative that state residents voted for in the 2018 midterm elections.

Also known as Proposition 4, the voter-approved ballot initiative calls for an independent redistricting commission to be set up to fix the state’s gerrymandering.

However, the Legislature “passed a bill two years later that overrode that measure and stripped the commission of its power by reducing it to an advisory body,” Fox News notes.

The Legislature then reportedly bypassed the committee altogether by drawing a very GOP-friendly congressional map in 2021.

“The new map split [the Democrat-run capital of] Salt Lake City four ways, which voting rights groups, including the League of Women Voters of Utah and the Mormon Women for Ethical Government, alleged illegally broke up the state’s only blue-leaning urban region in violation of the standards set forth by Proposition 4,” according to Fox News.

In her order, Gibson accused the GOP-led Legislature of having “intentionally stripped away all of [the initiative’s] core redistricting standards and procedures that were binding on it.”

“To permit the 2021 Congressional Plan to remain in place would reward the very constitutional violation this Court has already identified and would nullify the people’s 2018 redistricting reform that they passed through Proposition 4,” she wrote.

Prior to Gibson’s ruling, Utah Sen. Mike Lee posted a tweet warning 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,” he wrote. “To do so, we must first grasp what these independent commissions truly represent. In a state like Utah, they’re essentially a mechanism for the left to grab power they can’t get through democratic elections.”

If you live in a Republican-led state—one with a GOP governor and legislature—keep this in mind: Almost anything promoted as an “independent commission” is often a strategy to give Democrats an edge they can’t win through fair elections. This is especially true for legislative… https://t.co/WeRXX6TeDw

— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) August 25, 2025

In a joint statement issued Monday evening, Utah State Senate President J. Stuart Adams, a Republican, and Utah State House Speaker Mike Schultz, also a Republican, said they were “disappointed by the court’s decision,” according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

“We remain committed to protecting the voices of Utahns and upholding the Legislature’s state and federal constitutional authority to draw congressional districts. We will carefully review the ruling and consider our next steps,” they added.

They and their attorneys reportedly plan to appeal the decision, first to the Utah Supreme Court, and eventually to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, Better Boundaries Executive Director Elizabeth Rasmussen told reporters on Monday that she expects the Utah State Legislature to have final replacement maps ready by the 2026 midterms.

“We’re going to make sure this timeline is followed to the best of our abilities, and we hope the Legislature will respect that decision,” she said.

“What this means is that we will have more free and fair elections in Utah, and we will send to our Congress people more accountable and less extreme,” Better Boundaries board member Ryan Bell added.

“Utah will be responsible for having a less polarized Congress. I hope that Utah will become a beacon to many other states that pass similar laws, fight gerrymandering, and have fair election maps so that we can have a more balanced and representative, and accountable Congress,” he continued.

Utah House Democrats also celebrated Gibson’s ruling, calling it a “victory for the people of Utah, who demanded fair representation when they passed Proposition 4 and established an independent redistricting commission.”

Utah House Democrats’ statement on the Third District Court Judge’s ruling on redistricting #utpol #utleg pic.twitter.com/DFWRVgzomg

— Utah House Democrats (@utahhousedems) August 26, 2025