President Trump on Wednesday ripped a recent ruling that Utah must redraw its congressional lines as “absolutely unconstitutional” amid a growing redistricting fight across the country.
“Monday’s Court Order in Utah is absolutely Unconstitutional. How did such a wonderful Republican State like Utah, which I won in every Election, end up with so many Radical Left Judges?” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“All Citizens of Utah should be outraged at their activist Judiciary, which wants to take away our Congressional advantage, and will do everything possible to do so. This incredible State sent four great Republicans to Congress, and we want to keep it that way. The Utah GOP has to STAY UNITED, and make sure their four terrific Republican Congressmen stay right where they are!” the president said. Trump won Utah by more than 30 points in November.
District Court Judge Dianna Gibson ruled that the GOP-controlled state Legislature went around safeguards against partisan gerrymandering with the latest lines and must redraw ahead of next year’s midterms.
Under the current map, Utah’s four congressional districts are all held by Republicans. A redrawing could, depending on how lines are drawn around blue Salt Lake City, mean an opportunity for Democrats to snag a House seat in the state.
“In throwing out the current, gerrymandered congressional map, voters in Utah will now have an opportunity to elect leaders that best represent their values, and not have their representation dictated by politicians,” said Rep. Suzan DelBene (Wash.), chair of the Democrats’ House campaign arm, in a statement on the ruling.
Utah Democrats called the district court ruling a “mandate for change” in the state and said they’re “ready to hit the ground running next year.”
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), however, knocked the ruling, claiming Utah’s electoral system is “under attack by Democrats and their leftist allies in the Utah courts.”
“Make no mistake, this decision will make the process of drawing legislative districts in Utah *less* accountable to voters, not more[.] It’ll also result in maps that are far more generous to Democrats, and that’s the whole point,” Lee wrote on the social platform X.
Voters in Utah approved an independent redistricting commission via ballot initiative back in 2018, but that setup was rendered advisory by a state law passed in 2020. Legislators drew the latest maps in 2021, disregarding a proposal from the commission.
In the new ruling, the judge suggested that the current maps are unlawful because lawmakers had effectively ignored the voter-passed proposition.
“The nature of the violation lies in the Legislature’s refusal to respect the people’s exercise of their constitutional lawmaking power and to honor the people’s right to reform their government,” Gibson said in the ruling, which gives lawmakers a Sept. 24 deadline.
The ruling comes against the backdrop of a broader redistricting fight brewing across the country.
A Republican plan to redistrict in Texas prompted Democratic legislators in California to greenlight a plan that, if approved by voters, would effectively nullify potential GOP gains in the Lone Star State. Ohio is set to redistrict because of state requirements, and figures in red Florida, Indiana and Missouri have also floated potential redrawing.
Republicans hold a slim 219-212 majority in the House, and control of Congress could come down to just a few seats in next year’s high-stakes midterms, ramping up tensions around potential map changes.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
