Utah GOP asks state Supreme Court to revive blocked congressional gerrymander
Utah Republicans moved to keep control of the state’s congressional map Wednesday, filing a notice of appeal with the Utah Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that blocked their gerrymander and put a fairer, court-ordered map in place for the 2026 midterms.
The appeal targets a series of decisions by state judge Dianna Gibson who last year struck down the Legislature’s attempt to sidestep Proposition 4 — a voter-approved anti-gerrymandering law — and replaced lawmakers’ map with one that gives Utah Democratic voters a real chance at competitive representation for the first time in years.
The ruling Republicans are now appealing came after years of litigation over the Legislature’s response to Proposition 4, which Utah voters passed in 2018 to curb partisan gerrymandering. After the 2020 census, GOP lawmakers adopted a congressional map that split Democratic-leaning Salt Lake County into four districts — a move widely criticized as a textbook partisan gerrymander designed to lock in a 4-0 Republican delegation.
In August, Gibson struck down the GOP legislature’s map, ruling that lawmakers violated the Utah Constitution by gutting a voter-approved reform. Then in November, after rejecting a revised map from the Legislature, Gibson adopted a remedial plan proposed by the pro-voting plaintiffs, creating a district where Democratic voters have a meaningful opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice.
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/utah-gop-asks-state-supreme-court-to-revive-blocked-congressional-gerrymander/