Republican legislative leaders say they’ll redraw Utah’s congressional maps, as a judge ordered earlier this week, while maintaining they will challenge the “misguided” ruling that they say “unconstitutionally” ties their hands.
“While we will continue to pursue every legal option available — including requesting a stay from the Utah Supreme Court if necessary — we will attempt to redistrict under these unprecedented constraints, consistent with our oath to represent the best interests of Utah,” House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, and Senate President J. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said in a statement Thursday.
The Republican leaders said that the court-imposed 30-day deadline leaves “little opportunity for meaningful, statewide public involvement.” The last time they drew congressional boundaries, the leaders said, lawmakers spent six months gathering input and held more than 20 public hearings.
“Such a timeline is not only unreasonable, it is fundamentally unfair to Utahns,” they said.
In a statement Thursday, Elizabeth Rasmussen, executive director of Better Boundaries, said they are encouraged the Legislature will proceed with drawing new maps.
“Proposition 4 was about fairness, setting standards like keeping communities together, drawing compact and contiguous districts, using real boundaries, and preventing politicians from drawing lines to protect themselves,” she said. “Now the Legislature must honor those standards so every Utahn has a real voice.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Elizabeth Rasmussen of Better Boundaries speaks at a news conference in Salt Lake City on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. A judge earlier ruled that the Legislature will have 30 days to adopt new maps that comply with the 2018 Better Boundaries initiative guidelines.
Judge Dianna Gibson has given the Legislature until Sept. 24 to submit a new map to the court. The quick turnaround is necessary because, according to the lieutenant governor’s office, the maps must be in place by Nov. 1 so candidates can file in January to run for office.
On Monday, Gibson ruled — based on a decision last year by the Utah Supreme Court — that the Legislature had violated voters’ constitutional right to make laws when legislators repealed Proposition 4, the citizen-passed Better Boundaries initiative.
That ballot measure, passed by a majority of Utah voters in 2018, created an independent redistricting commission and banned partisan gerrymandering, but the Legislature ignored the commission’s recommendations and split the Democratic vote in Salt Lake County, creating four safe Republican seats.
Because Republican lawmakers didn’t follow the standards set forth in Proposition 4, Gibson prohibited the Legislature’s maps from being used in the 2026 election and gave lawmakers 30 days to draw new ones.
Republicans, from President Donald Trump on down, have blasted the judge’s ruling, calling it judicial activism and politically motivated.
On Thursday, Schultz and Adams said requiring the Legislature to comply with Proposition 4’s limitations “unconstitutionally ties the Legislature’s hands by mandating certain redistricting criteria when the U.S. and Utah constitutions leave it to the people’s representatives in the Legislature to redistrict.”
In her ruling, Gibson acknowledged the Legislature’s authority to redistrict, but wrote that the redistricting must follow existing law, and “Proposition 4 is the law in Utah.”
Gibson was appointed by Republican Gov. Gary Herbert and confirmed unanimously by the GOP-controlled Senate.
The leaders’ statement came ahead of a status conference that Gibson has scheduled for Friday morning to discuss the path forward.
Schultz and Adams said they will seek to maintain the goal of having each district contain both urban and rural voters, which, they said, “provides a true statewide perspective ensuring that all Utahns … have four strong voices in Washington, D.C.”
The ruling came at a politically charged juncture, as Trump has pushed Texas lawmakers to redraw their House boundaries to create safe Republican seats in an effort to help preserve the GOP’s House majority. California legislators have retaliated with a gerrymandering effort of their own in a bid to offset the potential Texas gains. Other states are also exploring options.