Utah to Hold Special Legislative Session on Redistricting

State legislators are seeking to undercut a state judge’s ruling that invalidates the current House district map and replaces it with a Democrat-friendly one.

Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City on April 25, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The Utah Legislature will hold a special session on Dec. 9 to discuss a plan to revise the state’s delimitation of electoral districts for the U.S. House of Representatives.

The session was called by Republican Gov. Spencer Cox to address a recent ruling by a state court that overruled the map of electoral districts drawn by the state Legislature in 2021 and replaced it with an alternative submitted by plaintiffs. The state judge, Diana Gibson, issued the ruling on state law grounds, which imposed several neutral criteria for drafting such maps. Republicans have opposed that map, and the state Legislature’s convening is meant to pass several bills and joint resolutions that will expedite legal challenges and preserve its authority over redistricting.

“Utahns deserve a stable, transparent and accountable process for redistricting, one that respects the roles of our elected branches and the voice of the people,” Republican president of the Utah Senate, J. Stuart Adams, and Republican speaker of the Utah House of Representatives, Mike Schultz, said in a statement.

“A recent poll shows 71% of Utahns believe elected officials should oversee the redistricting process. The Legislature is taking action to restore order, ensure transparency and defend the integrity of our elections, keeping Utah’s constitutional framework strong and stable.”

In a statement, Cox said that the session was being expressly called for this purpose.

“Most items are intended to facilitate the state’s appeal of recent court decisions regarding redistricting. I support the state’s appeal and have confidence the Utah Supreme Court will consider it in a timely way so we have clarity for the 2026 election,” Cox wrote on X.

Apart from redistricting matters, the special session is intended to repeal another state law, H.B. 267, regarding amendments to statutes about public-sector labor unions.

The developments in Utah are the latest in a series of redistricting actions in states nationwide. In Utah’s case, the process has been judicially impelled, while in other states, elected officials have sought to make partisan changes to district boundaries to favor their parties in the 2026 congressional general elections, which in turn have faced federal litigation challenges under the Voting Rights Act.

Utah is an overwhelmingly Republican-leaning state, and the party holds a two-thirds majority in both houses of the state Legislature. Utah’s current congressional delegation in the House comprises just four members, none of whom are Democrats. Should Gibson’s map ruling prevail, it would presumably increase competitiveness for Democrats in the general election.