Utah judge rejects GOP redistricting map, creates Democratic district

Dealing a blow to Republicans, a Utah district judge rejected a congressional district map drawn by the GOP-dominated Legislature and instead approved an alternative district that would create a Democratic-leaning district ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Republicans currently control all four of the red state’s congressional districts, but Utah District Judge Dianna Gibson ruled Monday night that a map drawn by GOP lawmakers “unduly favors Republicans and disfavors Democrats.”

Utah is the latest battleground in the high-stakes redistricting showdown between President Donald Trump and Republicans versus Democrats to shape the midterm landscape in the fight for the House majority.

The showdown over redistricting in Utah, a state Trump won by nearly 22 percentage points in last year’s presidential election, was sparked by a lawsuit filed by the Utah League of Women Voters and Mormon Women for Ethical Government, which prompted Gibson to reject the state’s current congressional map.

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Judge Dianna Gibson of Utah’s Third District Court, left, and the Utah State Capitol building in Salt Lake City. (Utah State Courts; Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Gibson’s decision forced state lawmakers to draw a new map, which the Legislature approved last month.

The judge had ordered lawmakers to draw a map in accordance with a 2018 ballot measure approved by Utah voters that reformed redistricting standards, to prevent districts from being drawn in favor of one political party, a practice known as gerrymandering.

Gibson rejected the Republican lawmakers’ map and ruled in favor of one of two maps presented by the plaintiffs. It keeps almost all of populous Salt Lake County in a single congressional district. The current congressional map divides the Democratic-majority county among the state’s four districts.

The judge had said she would rule by Monday, the day Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson said any new congressional maps must be in place for use in next year’s elections.

Democrats have not controlled a congressional seat in Utah since the current map took effect at the start of the decade.

“The DNC applauds the decision to choose a fair, unbiased map that reflects the diversity and ideological makeup of the state. Utah Republicans reworked the maps because they knew they were losing power in the state. Republicans doubled down on their efforts when they chose to submit another reworked map, but today they were once again thwarted by impartial courts,” argued Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Ken Martin, in a press release.

And Martin promised that “Democrats will continue to fight for fair maps in Utah, regardless of what Donald Trump and Utah Republicans try next.”

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Republicans, who argued that Gibson did not have the legal authority to enact a map not approved by lawmakers, criticized the decision.

“Judge Gibson has once again overstepped the constitutional authority granted to Utah’s judiciary. After stretching the law to justify taking control of redistricting, she has now rejected Map C – the only option that respected the legislature’s constitutional role – and imposed a map of unaccountable activists on the people of Utah,” argued Utah Republican Party Chairman Robert Axson.

And Axson charged: “This is not an interpretation. This is the arrogance of a judge playing the role of King from the bench.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks during an election night press conference at a California Democratic Party office, Tuesday, November 4, 2025, in Sacramento, California. (Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP Photo)

Utah’s decision comes six days after California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 50, a ballot initiative that will temporarily hijack the state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission from the left and return congressional map-drawing power to the Democratic-dominated Legislature.

That’s expected to result in five additional Democratic-leaning districts in California, countering the passage earlier this year in the reliably red state of Texas of a new map aimed at creating up to five right-wing seats in the House.

“California has stepped up. Now we’re taking this fight across the country – helping Democrats in other states fight Trump’s election rigging,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement to Fox News Digital last week, highlighting Trump and Republicans’ push for rare mid-decade redistricting.

President Donald Trump gestures to a reporter in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, September 30, 2025, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/Associated Press)

It’s part of a broader effort by Trump’s political team and the Republican Party to shore up the party’s razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in the 2026 midterms, when the ruling party traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats. Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio drew new maps as part of the president’s efforts.

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Trump aims to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House, when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterm elections.

Illinois and Maryland, both blue states, and Virginia, where Democrats control the legislature, are moving toward or seriously considering redistricting, as are the red states of Indiana, Kansas, and Florida.