In new redistricting lawsuit, federal panel weighs whether to overturn Utah's court-ordered map
As a blizzard descended on Salt Lake City on Wednesday, a federal three-judge panel spent hours grilling attorneys on opposing sides of a new redistricting lawsuit seeking to throw out a state judge’s earlier decisions that voided Utah’s 2021 congressional map and ordered a remedial map that created one Democratic and three Republican districts.
After three hours of arguments and questioning, the judges did not issue a decision from the courtroom at the Orrin G. Hatch U.S. District Courthouse but took the case under advisement.
What they ultimately decide will have major implications for Utah’s 2026 congressional elections.
Will the court-ordered map imposed by 3rd District Judge Dianna Gibson stand? Or will they reinstate Utah’s 2021 congressional boundaries? Gibson previously ruled the 2021 map was the result of an unconstitutional process after the Utah Legislature drew it in the wake of undoing a 2018 voter-approved anti-gerrymandering law known as Proposition 4 that she’s since reinstated as Utah law.
https://utahnewsdispatch.com/2026/02/18/redistricting-lawsuit-federal-judges-weigh-whether-to-overturn-utah-congressional-map/