Utah Republicans concede defeat in multiple partisan redistricting efforts

After a Utah judge ruled last year that Republicans had violated the state’s ban on gerrymandering, the GOP was livid. The judge ordered the state to adopt a new map that would likely hand Democrats an additional seat in Congress.

Since then, Utah Republicans have aimed to repeal the gerrymandering ban and are trying to reshape the state judiciary to make it easier for them to redraw the congressional map the next time around. 

Now, Republicans are conceding some defeats: This week, the GOP agreed to dismiss its federal lawsuit challenging the state court ruling that struck down the gerrymandered map. 

In their lawsuit, the GOP plaintiffs had asked a federal court to declare the court-ordered map unconstitutional and direct the state legislature to either redraw it or bring back their previous gerrymander. But the federal three-judge panel denied their request for a preliminary injunction in February. Now, with November elections drawing closer, Republicans have agreed to drop their suit.  

That wasn’t the only Republican loss. The GOP’s attempt to repeal the gerrymandering ban hasn’t been a success, either — at least not yet. 

Earlier this year, Republicans submitted thousands of petition signatures to put a repeal measure on the ballot this November. But a pro-voting campaign urging Utahns to remove their signatures thwarted that plan: In the end, the measure did not have enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. 

Republican lawmakers then vowed to put a new constitutional amendment on the November ballot, aiming to erode the gerrymandering ban. But this week, they admitted that the proposal is dead for 2026, though the measure could be revived in the future.

Though the Utah GOP has been taking a lot of L’s recently, their efforts to redistrict the state in their favor are far from over. And they’ve demonstrated a willingness to go to great lengths to get their way.

In trying to prevent Democrats from picking up one House seat under the court-ordered map, they have even expanded the Utah Supreme Court from five to seven justices in hopes of getting more GOP-friendly rulings.

And the state’s highest court is set to hear arguments Sept. 9 on a new law requiring redistricting lawsuits to be heard by three-judge panels, instead of a single state judge — another creative attempt by GOP lawmakers to gain more favorable rulings in the future. 

Nonetheless, the new, court-ordered map has already been implemented for the midterms. Democrats will likely pick up a seat in Utah’s District 1, home to Salt Lake City. 

They will need it. After Trump called on red states last year to redistrict in favor of the Republicans, Democrats are now fighting off a wave of new GOP gerrymanders in 16 congressional districts across the country.