Calling Utah’s new court-ordered congressional map that creates a Democratic-leaning district the “most gerrymandered map in the history of the state of Utah,” Utah’s Republican legislators are digging in in their fight against the judge’s ruling.
House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, and Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, held a news conference at the Utah Capitol on Tuesday — with dozens of GOP legislators from both the House and Senate at their backs — to announce they plan to appeal 3rd District Judge Dianna Gibson’s decision to the Utah Supreme Court.
“It’s deeply concerning that an unelected judge overrode the Utah Constitution … and silenced Utahns by imposing a map without public input,” Adams said, arguing that the map she picked, drawn by the plaintiffs in a redistricting lawsuit against the state, didn’t follow a public process.
Additionally, the legislative leaders announced they are gearing up for a special session expected to be held Dec. 9 to consider their legislative options to ensure the state’s election system has “clarity” ahead of the 2026 election.
The agenda for that special session is still being decided, legislative leaders said. But lawmakers plan to also consider putting a constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot to ask voters whether to “clarify” when lawmakers can make changes to laws enacted by ballot initiatives.
During the special session, lawmakers may weigh delaying candidate filing deadlines in order to allow more time for a different congressional map to be enacted for the 2026 election — but the special session’s agenda hasn’t yet been finalized, according to Gov. Spencer Cox, who will be issuing the call.
“We’re still working through the details of what will be on that call,” Cox told reporters during his PBS Utah press conference Tuesday, though he added that he’s supportive of appealing Gibson’s ruling, as well as efforts to extend election deadlines to allow time for the appeal.
Even more so, the governor said he’s supportive of lawmakers’ efforts to pursue a constitutional amendment to put limits on the power of voter-approved ballot initiatives.
“I have deep, deep concerns about a state that is run via direct democracy,” Cox said, pointing to states like California and Oregon, where he said “you just see constant ballot initiatives “and it’s just not a great way to govern.”
“I’m less worried about redistricting than I am about that piece,” the governor added.
Democrats in the Utah House and Senate issued a joint statement after Tuesday’s press conference condemning the call for a special session next month, saying “we continue to believe that Judge Gibson’s ruling should be respected.”
“The Legislature’s map failed to comply with Proposition 4, and the court selected the map that did meet the law’s requirements,” House and Senate Democrats said. “It is fiscally irresponsible to use taxpayer dollars to fight this legal battle, which undermines the will of Utah voters. Utahns deserve to know their voices matter and their representatives do not choose their voters.”
How did we get here?
Utah’s Republican lawmakers have accused Gibson of violating the Utah Constitution when she picked a map that wasn’t adopted by the Utah Legislature, which GOP lawmakers continue to argue — despite multiple court rulings against them in the state’s yearslong redistricting court battle — has the sole authority to redistrict.
Plaintiffs in the state’s redistricting lawsuit have pointed to court proceedings in other states and argued the courts have a duty to intervene and select “remedial” maps when they determine lawmakers have failed to follow the law. But Republican lawmakers contend the judge should have gone another route, like asking the Legislature to vote on an alternative, rather than picking a map and sidelining the Legislature.
Now, Adams and Schultz said county clerks and candidates are facing “chaos” and confusion over the new map’s boundaries.
“Utahns deserve a process that’s stable, transparent and accountable. One in which decisions are made with respect to the constitutional roles of each branch of government,” Adams said. “Unfortunately, the courts have created confusion for our communities, candidates and for Utahns across the state.”
The lawsuit’s plaintiffs and Utah Democrats have celebrated the map selected by Gibson as one that most closely follows Proposition 4’s neutral map-drawing criteria and reflects Utah’s “political geography” with a district that best represents Utah’s urban core in Salt Lake County. But the map’s critics argue it created four uncompetitive districts that lead to skewed partisan results in a state that’s dominated by a statewide majority of Republican voters.
“By design or by default, Judge Gibson has authorized the most partisan and thus the most gerrymandered map in the history of the state,” Adams said. “I assume she didn’t intend or set out to gerrymander herself. But anyone who looks at the donut hole map sees very clearly it’s gerrymandered. Yes, Judge Gibson gave us a gerrymandered map.”
“That’s why,” Adams continued, “we’re appealing to the Utah Supreme Court and preparing the appeal right now.”
As of Tuesday morning, Gibson hadn’t yet issued her final legal analysis and ruling on a request from the Legislature’s attorneys to push pause on the map she selected earlier this month. Adams said attorneys are waiting for that final ruling to be issued before submitting their appeal to the Utah Supreme Court.
“We urge the district court to issue its final ruling quickly so we can use all the options and tools available to us as we appeal that decision to the Supreme Court,” Adams said.
Tuesday’s press conference was the latest show of force from Utah’s Republican-controlled Legislature as conservative lawmakers continue to protest the court-ordered redistricting process meant to “remedy” the state’s 2021 congressional map, which Gibson in an August ruling determined was the result of an unconstitutional process.
That year, the Utah Legislature adopted a map with four safe Republican congressional districts after it undid a 2018 voter-approved ballot initiative known as Proposition 4, which was meant to implement an independent redistricting process. That prompted pro-democracy groups including the League of Women Voters of Utah and Mormon Women for Ethical Government to sue, alleging the map was a “blatant gerrymander” and that lawmakers violated Utahns’ right to alter and reform their form of government through a ballot initiative.
Gibson initially dismissed that lawsuit, but in a ruling last summer, the Utah Supreme Court sent the case back to her courtroom, determining in a unanimous opinion that she “erred.” That opinion made clear that the Utah Legislature’s power to change “government reform” ballot initiatives has limits.
Another attempt at a constitutional amendment
It’s not the first time Utah’s Republican legislators have tried to ask voters to amend the Utah Constitution after that Utah Supreme Court ruling, which Schultz and Adams have criticized as a decision that effectively created problematic “super laws” that can’t be changed by lawmakers.
Last year, the Republican supermajority Legislature tried to put a controversial question on the 2024 November ballot known as Amendment D. If approved by voters, that amendment would have effectively sidestepped the Utah Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Utah Constitution that limited the Legislature’s powers to repeal and replace government-reform ballot initiatives and instead rewrite the constitution to cement lawmakers’ power to override any voter-approved ballot initiative.
However, the courts ultimately voided Amendment D from the ballot after determining its ballot language — written by Schultz and Adams — did not explain its effect accurately and that lawmakers failed to meet constitutional publishing requirements.
Elizabeth Rasmussen, executive director of the anti-gerrymandering group Better Boundaries, said after lawmakers’ press conference Tuesday that it “feels like we are repeating what the Legislature tried with Amendment D in 2024.”
“Instead of taking a closer look at the concerns Utahns have voiced about representation, we’re seeing recycled ideas that narrow the public’s role,” Rasmussen said in a statement. “Ballot initiatives are already a last resort for people who don’t feel heard. Trust in government is low, and proposals like this don’t rebuild it. If this goes to the ballot, Utahns will decide whether it strengthens their voice or shifts more authority to the Legislature.”
When asked how the new proposed ballot initiative will differ from Amendment D, Schultz told reporters, “We’re not going to get into that right now because that process is a separate process that will play out.”
Lawmakers could pass a resolution to put the question on the 2026 November ballot either during the Dec. 9 special session or during the 2026 general session scheduled to begin in January. It’s not yet clear exactly when they intend to consider it, but Schultz and Adams were adamant about posing the question to voters.
“I can just tell you that we need to let the people speak,” Adams said. “We’ve done what we can in the courts. We’ve gone to the courts over and over and over again. It’s time that people have a chance to speak.”
Will lawmakers pursue impeachment?
As part of the outcry from Gibson’s map decision, some lawmakers have suggested that her actions could amount to “malfeasance,” and at least one legislator, Rep. Matt MacPherson, R-West Valley City, said he planned to file articles of impeachment against her.
But when asked whether lawmakers planned to consider impeaching Gibson during their Dec. 9 special session or during their 2026 general session, Schultz told reporters, “No, we’re not focused on that right now.”
“Our focus right now is standing to get the people’s voice back, and to find a pathway forward so the people are the ones choosing the maps, not one judge,” Schultz said.
The speaker said the Utah Constitution says the Utah Legislature “shall divide the state into congressional, legislative and other districts accordingly.”
“Upholding our constitutional oath means taking responsibility for this task and ensuring Utahns … not outside interest groups, national organizations and last minute court interventions shapes Utah’s future,” Schultz said.
He argued the issue doesn’t boil down to a “power struggle” between the Legislature and the judiciary — but rather “how seriously we as elected officials take our responsibility to represent the people of Utah.”
“This is not a turf war,” he said. “It’s about the trust Utahns have placed in us to carry out the most fundamental constitutional duties.”
MacPherson told Utah News Dispatch in an interview after Tuesday’s news conference that he wants to wait and see how the Legislature’s appeal and the special session goes before deciding whether to pursue articles of impeachment against Gibson.
“I don’t want to muddy the waters,” he said. “The important thing right now is that we fix what’s broken. And I think we can get there through this process. And if not, we still have these tools available. They don’t go away.”
MacPherson noted there “has to be enough support” from both the House and the Senate to proceed with an impeachment effort.
Additionally, MacPherson said he’s talked with “people in different areas of the judiciary” that have “had their eyebrows raised” because of Gibson’s map ruling and the precedent it sets.
“The last thing we would really want is to unify the judiciary (in) a battle between branches of government,” he said.
MacPherson said he and legislative leaders think Gibson has violated the Utah Constitution and separation of powers — but whether that amounts to an impeachable offense is still an outstanding question.
“This judge has chosen a process outside of the constitutional order,” he said. “Whether or not my colleagues believe that rises to the level of impeachment, that’s a question that would be determined (later on). And whether or not this will play out, either way, I don’t know whether or not that will lead to me proceeding or not. I’m not sure.”
See more stories like this and all of our City Watch coverage. And while you’re here, why not subscribe and get six annual issues of Salt Lake magazine’s curated guide to the best of life in Utah?
About the Author
Katie McKellar covers Utah government as a senior reporter for Utah News Dispatch. She specializes in political reporting, covering the governor and the Utah Legislature, with expertise in beats including growth, housing and homelessness.
