Utah Supreme Court Upholds GOP-Favored Congressional Map: What It Means for Democratic Hopes

SALT LAKE CITY – On Friday, the Utah Supreme Court dismissed an appeal from Republican lawmakers, thereby maintaining a congressional map that significantly increases the likelihood of Democrats capturing one of the four U.S. House seats currently held by Republicans in the state.

Chief Justice Matthew B. Durrant signed the order, clarifying that the court lacks “jurisdiction over Legislative Defendants’ appeal,” effectively closing the case.

The appeal stemmed from a November ruling where a Utah judge selected a congressional map favoring a Democratic-leaning district, as opposed to one that would have secured all four seats for Republicans.

The newly adopted map consolidates Salt Lake County mostly within a single district, rather than splitting the predominantly Democratic area across multiple districts, which was the previous strategy.

Republican officials have contended that the court overstepped its bounds by implementing a map not sanctioned by the state Legislature.

Utah’s Republican Senate President Stuart Adams pushed back on the ruling, saying the “chaos continues.”

“We will keep defending a process that respects the Constitution and ensures Utah voters across our state have their voices respected,” he said in a statement.

Katharine Biele, president of the League of Women Voters of Utah, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, applauded the ruling.

“We are encouraged that the court dismissed this improper appeal and allowed the process to move forward without disruption to voters or election administrators,” she said in a statement.

The redistricting stems from an August decision in which Judge Dianna Gibson struck down the Utah congressional map adopted after the 2020 census because the Legislature had circumvented anti-gerrymandering standards passed by voters.

The ruling pushed the state into a national redistricting battle as President Donald Trump urged Republican-led states to take up mid-decade redistricting to try to help the GOP retain control of the House in 2026.

The approved map gives Democrats a much stronger chance to flip a seat in a state that last had a Democrat in Congress in early 2021.

Emma Petty Addams, co-executive director of Mormon Women for Ethical Government, another plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in a statement Friday that “the courts have provided an important check on the Legislature, affirming the people’s constitutional right to alter and reform their government.”

The ruling comes weeks before the deadline to file for reelection.

There is another appeal pending in federal court that was spearheaded by two of the state’s Republican members of Congress. The lawsuit filed in February argues the state judge violated the U.S. Constitution by rejecting the congressional districts drawn by the Republican-led state Legislature.