Utah lawmakers stop short of supporting bill to ban gerrymandering on national level

As more states consider entering the war on redistricting, Utah lawmakers are hesitant to take steps on the national level to block major map changes — even if they disagree with the effort being led by Republicans in Texas.

Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, said he opposes the push by Texas Republicans to redraw the state’s congressional boundaries, making him the first member of House GOP leadership to contradict President Donald Trump’s wishes to secure at least five additional Republican seats in next year’s midterm elections. Moore’s opposition comes as the Texas state legislature pushes ahead with plans to vote on the newly proposed map in the coming weeks — prompting threats of retaliation by Democratic-led states.

“If Texas does it, California is going to do it, Illinois is going to do it — and Illinois is going to do it worse, in favor of the Democrats, and all of a sudden it’s just a free-for-all,” Moore told the Deseret News in an interview. “Every two years, we’re going to have redistricting going on constantly instead of the current norm of at least once every 10 years. It’s not a perfect system. There’s bias constantly involved in this. So yeah, I don’t agree with mid-decade redistricting.”

But Moore stopped short of backing legislation to ban mid-decade redistricting even as one of his colleagues, Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., proposed a bill earlier this week to do just that. That bill would block any new maps from being used in the 2026 midterm elections and it would nullify any changes that are adopted this year.

“It’s hard to do that because you have court-ordered stuff, sometimes that (makes) it difficult. So I don’t anticipate signing on to that legislation,” Moore said.

“But,” he added, “Kevin Kiley is doing it because his seat could be removed.”

Kiley introduced the ban after California Democrats hinted at widespread changes to their congressional boundaries in response to the new map in Texas — likely putting Kiley at risk as one of just nine House Republicans from the Golden State.

But for the most part, Utah’s House delegation has steered clear of getting involved with any redistricting fights — arguing those decisions should be left to the individual states.

“Utah’s Constitution says that the Utah legislature draws the districts, and I think that’s the way it should be,” Rep. Celeste Maloy, R-Utah, told a constituent during a virtual town hall on Tuesday. “Federal legislation oftentimes makes things worse. I don’t think we need a federal law to tell the state to follow the law.”

The voter on the call specifically asked Maloy if she would support federal legislation banning “partisan gerrymandering.” Maloy responded that states already have laws in place to avoid partisan map drawing and said courts are tasked with ensuring those laws are enforced.

“I know it’s the hot topic right now,” Maloy said. “But we don’t need more legislation. We need the process to play out, and when state legislatures are abusing the law, then voters can hold them accountable and courts can hold them accountable.”

Rep. Mike Kennedy, R-Utah, separately echoed similar sentiments, telling the Deseret News in a statement: “The U.S. Constitution grants states the authority to manage their elections. I strongly support states’ rights.”

Utah maps still under court consideration

Utah is no stranger to the gerrymandering debate as it has faced legal challenges in recent years over its current congressional map.

Voting rights groups filed a lawsuit against the Utah Legislature in 2022, accusing lawmakers of unfairly repealing an independent redistricting commission that was approved by voters and instead established boundaries that diluted Democratic voters. The map did so by splitting Salt Lake County between the four congressional districts, the lawsuit alleges.

Challenges to the map are still ongoing after 3rd District Judge Dianna Gibson ruled in April that she needs more information before she can issue a final decision.

During her town hall on Tuesday, Maloy was pressed on whether she considers the current map fair or if she would support Salt Lake County being returned to its own district.

Maloy defended the current boundaries, arguing it gives all four of Utah’s House members representation in both urban and rural parts of the state.

“When states that are larger than ours have so many seats that you have some representatives that are only urban representatives and some representatives that are only rural representatives, they sometimes work against each other,” Maloy said in response to the question. “And in Utah, we all have to work together. With only four people in our delegation, we’re much stronger than we would be because we work so well together.”

Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah — who defeated Utah’s only Democratic member of Congress, former Rep. Ben McAdams, in the 4th District in 2020 — similarly defended the current maps, telling the Deseret News he is “proud to represent a district that includes both urban and rural communities.”

“(It’s a) mix that makes our delegation stronger and our representation better,” Owens said. “Serving such a broad range of priorities sharpens our focus and deepens our impact. States — and their democratically elected officials — should decide how they are represented in Congress, not Washington.”

But that argument has not been met with open arms from other state representatives, who claim the recently approved boundaries “disenfranchise millions of Utahns in Salt Lake County.”

“I think that’s offensive,” state Sen. Nate Blouin, D-Utah, told the Deseret News. “I think you can have plenty of representation amongst both rural and urban communities by drawing districts that have representatives from both of them.”

Blouin was among a group of Utah legislators who met with the Texas Democrats who fled the state earlier this week to block a vote on Republicans’ new congressional maps. The group of Utah Democrats met the Texas representatives in Boston during the National Conference of State Legislatures, during which Blouin said they discussed the state of play in Texas and how to stand in solidarity.

Blouin pointed to the ongoing legal battles against Utah maps, arguing a decision in the case could bring the Beehive State to the forefront of the redistricting battle if the judge allowed an independent commission to redraw the boundaries and it results in a competitive seat.

“Obviously, with how closely divided Congress is, having one competitive congressional seat in Utah would bring a lot of attention to the state, because of how important and how much of a swing district that could be for the entire Congress,” Blouin said. “And so that’s how I see it lining up, (and) hopefully we get a decision on that soon.”

Cami Mondeaux is the congressional correspondent for the Deseret News. She covers national news driving the day with a special focus on policy issues affecting Utah and the West.