Tensions are high in a Utah redistricting fight that didn't start with Trump

Source: NPR

September 25, 2025 5:00 AM ET


SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is getting closer to redrawing its congressional boundaries in an unusual mid-decade redistricting process, but it's not yet clear what that map will look like. In a heated committee meeting Wednesday, state lawmakers said they're considering a lot of options before deciding in October.

Unlike other Republican-led states redistricting this year, Utah's new map is expected to give Democrats more of a chance at winning at least one of the state's four congressional districts, which could help Democrats in the race to control the U.S. House. State lawmakers were ordered to draw the new districts after a Utah judge ruled they had acted unconstitutionally in creating the map used in 2022.

GOP "complying under protest"

The Legislature's Republican supermajority has made it clear they are not happy they had to go back to the drawing board and are complying under protest. The map must be approved by lawmakers and the court by Nov. 10 to be used in the 2026 midterms, according to Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson's office. Utah's voided congressional map split the bluest area of the state, Salt Lake County, among the state's four districts, making four U.S. House seats safe for Republicans. That split was the biggest critique of the map, especially by county residents.

All of the proposed new boundaries also divide the county, the most populous one in the state, but some only split it into two districts. Instead of advancing a single proposed map, the Legislature's redistricting committee said Wednesday it will let the public weigh in on any map that has been posted on its website before making a decision. That includes six maps commissioned by lawmakers, as well as proposals submitted by citizens. Lawmakers will choose from one of those maps, and only those maps, on Oct. 6. The map will go back to court for the judge to approve.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2025/09/25/nx-s1-5552779/utah-redistricting-trump-texas-congress