SALT LAKE CITY — The Republican supermajority of the Utah State Legislature intends to appeal the redistricting ruling that led to a new congressional map to the state's top court.
"Unfortunately, the courts have created confusion for our communities, candidates and for Utahns across the state," Senate President J. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said at a news conference Tuesday announcing the appeal.
Confirming they will not seek an emergency stay to halt the new congressional map (which means it could stay in effect for the 2026 election cycle absent more court intervention), legislative leaders instead said they would focus on the larger issue — the legislature's constitutional authority to draw boundaries in redistricting.
An appeal will be filed with the Utah Supreme Court soon.
"Utahns deserve a stable and predictable system not one where court-driven delays and demands reshape the future of our state," said House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper.
Governor Spencer Cox will call the legislature into a special session on Dec. 9, where lawmakers are expected to address deadlines for candidate filing. A proposed constitutional amendment could also wind up on the agenda that would set some limits on the power of citizen ballot initiatives.
"What the courts have essentially done is said you can’t amend anything, you can’t touch anything," House Majority Whip Candice Pierucci, R-Herriman, said in an interview with FOX 13 News. "It is very rare as humans do we get things right on the first try. We have to have that ability."
Utahns on both political sides hope new redistricting map sets example for nation:
Democrats on Utah's Capitol Hill called the special session "a waste of taxpayer money."
"We have a clear map. We have a Lt. Governor putting it on the ballot in the fall. We have total clarity. There’s not a state of emergency... that we need to be responding to is the way I see it," said Rep. Doug Owens, D-Millcreek.
Voters approved Prop. 4 in 2018, creating an independent redistricting process to draw boundaries for congressional, legislative and state school board boundaries. The legislature overrode the initiative, prompting Mormon Women for Ethical Government and the League of Women Voters of Utah to sue, alleging lawmakers trampled over the rights of voters and pushed a congressional map that was gerrymandered to favor Republicans.
Judge Dianna Gibson upheld Prop. 4, ordering the legislature to draw a new congressional map. But she rejected that map as not complying with the tenets of the initiative and instead chose a map submitted by the plaintiffs.
On Tuesday, Sen. Adams blasted that map as problematic, citing recent issues the Lt. Governor has had implementing it. He also criticized the nature of the map, which creates a district in Salt Lake County that appears to be more favorable to Democrats.
"By design or by default, Judge Gibson has authorized the most partisan and thus the most gerrymandered map," he told reporters.
Judge selects Utah congressional map, creates district that could lean Democrat:
On Tuesday, Gov. Cox said he supported the legislature's plans to appeal.
"I know a lot of people are upset at the judge’s decision. I think it was a wrong decision and what you do when you get a decision you disagree with? You appeal that decision," he told reporters at his monthly news conference on PBS.
The governor also said he would wait and see what a proposed constitutional amendment would look like, but expressed general support.
"It’s going to be important to understand the details of what a constitutional amendment would look like," Gov. Cox said.
Meanwhile, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit were preparing to fight for Prop. 4 again.
"We’ve been here before with Amendment D. It was a clear attempt to kind of pull power away from the people in response to not liking what the people were doing and saying. That’s why you have a judiciary," said Emma Addams, the co-founder of Mormon Women for Ethical Government, referencing the legislature's previous constitutional amendment to override citizen initiatives that was voided by the Utah Supreme Court.
Addams said Utah voters should speak up and defend Prop. 4.
"We’ve done everything we can to protect your constitutional right to alter and reform your government," she told FOX 13 News. "To be the voice of the people, the 'We the People' that the Constitution gives the power to."
