SALT LAKE CITY — A three-judge panel of federal judges will hear a request by a number of high-profile Utah politicians to block the new congressional map from being implemented.
A docket entry filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City shows a three-judge panel will hear arguments on whether to grant a preliminary injunction over the new map on Feb. 18.
The case spiraled out of a lawsuit filed in state court by the League of Women Voters and Mormon Women for Ethical Government. They sued the Utah State Legislature, accusing them of improperly overriding Prop. 4, a citizen ballot initiative that created an independent redistrict process. The map the legislature imposed, the League and MWEG claimed, constituted illegal gerrymandering to favor Republicans. A judge sided with them and chose a map created by the League and MWEG's experts.
The legislature, which argues it has the sole constitutional power to redistrict, has appealed to the Utah Supreme Court.
A group of county commissioners, mayors and even Congressional representatives Celeste Maloy and Burgess Owens have now sued Lt. Governor Deidre Henderson to block her from using the map approved by a state court judge that created a more competitive congressional district aligned with the tenets of Prop. 4.
"Plaintiffs challenge the Lieutenant Governor’s planned implementation of 'Map 1' for Utah’s 2026 congressional elections, which she believes herself bound to use. This suit does not challenge the content of Map 1, despite its radical reworking of Utah’s congressional districts—moving half a million voters in one county alone into new districts. Rather, this suit challenges Defendant’s endorsement of the unconstitutional process of effectively allowing a single state-court judge to promulgate that map," James Phillips, an attorney for the plaitiffs, wrote.
The filing included declarations by Utah's congressional representatives over the harms caused by the new map.
"Since the 2024 election, I have been spending time, energy, and resources preparing for the 2026 election based on the Legislature’s 2021 map. I am ready, willing, and able to run on the 2021 map," Congressman Owens wrote. "The selection of Map 1 has caused uncertainty and confusion for me, my campaign staff, and for voters. I do not know where I should file to run, and I have not yet filed for re-election. My district has shifted to the point that I do not know which district to choose. Nor do I know where to spend my money, time, and resources campaigning."
The League has now sought to intervene in the federal lawsuit, arguing the politico plaintiffs are too late and sat on their hands for months. They also argue the case should remain in state court.
"The Utah Supreme Court is currently considering a motion by the Legislative Defendants in the state court litigation to stay the district court’s permanent injunction against the 2021 Map, in part based upon their argument that the court’s order violates the federal Constitution’s Elections Clause—the same argument Plaintiffs seek to advance in this federal lawsuit," League attorney David Reymann wrote. "The federal Elections Clause is one of the issues being decided in the state court litigation. Longstanding precedent precludes this Court from entertaining Plaintiffs’ forthcoming preliminary injunction motion given the ongoing state court litigation. Rather, this Court must defer consideration in favor of the state court litigation."
