There’s less than a week left until Utah’s Legislature has to come up with a new congressional map, 10 lawmakers have been appointed to a committee tasked with redrawing the boundaries.
The committee will be chaired by Sen. Scott Sandall, R-Tremonton, and Rep. Candice Pierucci, R-Riverton. Sandall previously co-chaired the committee in 2021 that drew the maps that were voided by a state judge last month.
“Redrawing congressional districts is a detailed and intricate task that requires careful analysis, broad input and thoughtful decision-making,” Sandall said, according to a release from the Legislature. “Our committee’s top priority is to create a fair and balanced map that complies with Proposition 4 and reflects Utah’s growth, incorporates the interests of all Utahns and ensures every voice across the state is represented.”
This map redrawing comes after a Utah Supreme Court ruling last year saying the Legislature shouldn’t have been allowed to repeal 2018’s Proposition 4, also know as the Better Boundaries initiative. This voter-approved initiative has been reinstated as law.
Last month, 3rd District Court Judge Dianna Gibson ruled that with the initiative’s standards back in place, the existing congressional map cannot be used in the 2026 election since it does not meet Proposition 4’s requirements. The ruling requires the congressional map to be redrawn.
“Just as we did in 2021, our committee will work thoughtfully, considering the needs of all communities across Utah, while meeting the deadlines and criteria we’ve been given,” Pierucci said, according to the release.
When does the map have to be drawn by?
The Legislature has until Sept. 25 to produce a draft of a new map. It then has to provide the public 10 days to comment on it, before it has to be voted on in a special legislative session and submitted to the court.
Gibson can then either approve the Legislature’s map if it complies with Proposition 4 or if it is not approved she can choose a map submitted the groups that are plaintiffs in the case.
A final map has to be in place by Nov. 10 in order to give county clerks around the state enough time to prepare for the 2026 midterm elections.
The Legislature has posted a website, where information for upcoming meetings will be posted as well as material about the map.
Next week, the redistricting committee will be holding two public meetings, on Sept. 22 and 24. Then the public comment period will take place from Sept. 25 to Oct. 5.
The special session held for the Legislature to vote on the final map will be on Oct. 6.
What are the requirements for a new map?
Following Proposition 4, the map produced by the committee has to have contiguous and compact districts that avoid splitting cities and counties as much as possible, per reports. The committee is not permitted to consider partisan voting data and has to keep communities of interest together.
This committee will only be redrawing maps for the state’s four U.S. House seats, because the lawsuit did not challenge the boundaries for the state legislative or school board districts.
West Valley City Sen. Daniel Thatcher, a member of the Forward Party and the Legislature’s only non-Republican or Democratic member, has presented his own congressional map for consideration.
Thatcher drew his map when the state was last redrawing boundaries. According to him it complies the Better Boundaries initiative, per KUER.
His map does split up Salt Lake County between all four U.S. House districts which is a criticism of the state’s most recent map that was thrown out. Thatcher said he believes it is necessary to split the county because of its population size.
The senator believes the most recent congressional map is “pretty gerrymandered,” he voted against that map’s adoption, according to KUER.
In Thatcher’s map, 25 of the state’s 29 counties are still contained to one district, but the four most populous counties — Salt Lake, Utah, Weber and Davis — are split up. The map’s distinguishing factor is the districts are all split down I-15.
“Most people have no idea where their municipal boundaries are,” he said, per KUER. “Everyone knows where I-15 is.”
Who is on the legislative redistricting committee?
Along with the committees two chairs, here is a look at the other members of the legislative redistricting committee:
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Sen. Luz Escamilla, R-Salt Lake City
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Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan
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Sen. Don Ipson, R-St. George
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Sen. Michael McKell, R-Spanish Fork
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Rep. Walt Brooks, R-St. George
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Rep. Stephanie Gricius, R-Eagle Mountain
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Rep. Doug Owens, D-Millcreek
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Rep. Calvin Roberts, R-Draper
