When President Trump began his efforts last year to shore up redistricting in red states ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, Utah was supposed to be one of the no-drama states that would hold the line and not lose any congressional seats for Republicans, who currently hold a narrow majority in the House of Representatives. Trump won the state in 2016, 2020, and 2024, and the GOP held all four congressional seats.
And Utah's GOP-led state legislature had done their part by drawing and adopting a new map in 2025 in accordance with a court order mandating that districts be redrawn ahead of the 2026 midterms. Known as Map C, it solidified all four congressional districts for Republicans, who "argued it was the best map that represented both urban and rural voters while splitting the fewest number of cities and counties."
READ MORE: A Utah Judge Just Handed Democrats a Massive Redistricting Win
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Things seemed to be on track for the GOP to hold their congressional seats for 2026 ... that is until Utah District Court Judge Dianna Gibson came along. As RedState reported last November, Gibson nuked the GOP-approved map in favor of one drawn to give Democrats the clear advantage in one of the districts.
From our reporting:
In making her ruling, Gibson decided that the GOP-drawn map, known as Map C, "does not comply with Utah law.” The judge wrote that Map C “was drawn with partisan political data on display. Map C does not abide by Proposition 4’s traditional redistricting criteria ‘to the greatest extent practicable." Proposition 4 refers to a 2018 ballot measure approved by Utah voters that reformed the state's redistricting standards.
Gibson concluded, “And, based on the evidence presented, the Court finds that [Republicans’ House map] was drawn with the purpose to favor Republicans."
The ruling comes after the League of Women Voters of Utah and Mormon Women for Ethical Government filed a lawsuit in which they argued that GOP lawmakers were attempting to gerrymander the state's congressional districts, which would be a violation of the law. The plaintiffs drew up their own map to include a district that would heavily favor the Democrat candidate, and this is the map approved by Gibson.
Utah Republicans balked at the judge's decision and fought back.
The GOP there is currently collecting signatures as part of its "effort to put an initiative [Prop 4] on the 2026 ballot to repeal Utah’s ban on partisan gerrymandering." If successful, Republicans would then be able to redraw the map for 2028 and again after the 2030 census.
The deadline to collect those signatures is February 14, and that's where the White House comes in. Vice President JD Vance took to X on Saturday to urge Utahns to sign on to put Prop 4 on the ballot and "keep Utah red."
We’re in the final stretch to put the repeal of Prop 4 on the ballot in Utah! I hope more Utahns will join President Trump and Senator Mike Lee in this very important effort to KEEP UTAH RED. Time is running out – find out where you can sign here: https://t.co/bwDXouINHJ 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/3kAQyYb7Wg
— JD Vance (@JDVance) February 14, 2026
President Trump has been urging the same for a while, writing on Truth Social last month: “Utahns deserve Maps drawn by those they elect, not Rogue Judges or Leftwing Activist who never faced the Voters. I encourage all Patriotic Utahns, Republicans, and MAGA Supporters who love their Great State and Country to sign this initiative, ASAP.”
The signatures must be collected and turned in by 5 p.m. MT on Saturday, so Utahns only have a short time left to add their names to the effort.
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