The Utah Supreme Court on Friday rejected the Republican legislature’s request to block a judge-imposed congressional map favored by Democrats and reinstate the district lines it drew.
The state’s highest court dismissed a GOP appeal to stay Utah district court judge Dianna Gibson’s injunction of the legislature’s 2021 map, under which Republicans won all four congressional districts in the 2022 and 2024 elections.
In August 2025, Gibson ruled that the legislature violated the state constitution when it repealed Proposition 4, a voter-approved ballot initiative that bans partisan gerrymandering. Gibson reinstated Proposition 4 and blocked the legislature’s map, which divided populous Salt Lake County among four districts and splintered the state’s biggest source of Democratic votes.
In November, Gibson rejected a remedial proposal from the legislature and instead put in place a map from voting rights groups that includes a compact district in the Salt Lake City area. The district has a decided Democratic lean, a win for the party needing a net gain of three House seats to overturn the GOP majority. Democrats seeking that district include ex-Rep. Ben McAdams.
Utah Republicans are seeking to repeal Proposition 4 in a statewide vote this November.
In a separate federal case, lawyers for Utah Republican officeholders including Reps. Celeste Maloy and Burgess Owens argue that Gibson violated the US Constitution’s Elections Clause and that courts have no authority to set congressional district lines.
Utah election officials have said they need to know by Feb. 23 which map to use to administer the 2026 election. The candidate filing period opens on March 9.
The case is League of Women Voters of Utah v. Utah State Legis., Utah, No. 20260019, 2/20/26.
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