Utah Republican, Democratic party leaders spar over picking preferred congressional map

The Capitol in Salt Lake City is pictured on Thursday, July 10, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)

The Utah Democratic Party on Wednesday criticized the Utah GOP for encouraging Republicans to support the party’s preferred congressional map as lawmakers prepare to vote on Monday to pick a replacement map that will be submitted to a judge for consideration ahead of the 2026 elections.

In an email sent to members Tuesday night, the Utah Republican Party said “we urgently need you to submit comments supporting Map C,” which is one of five drawn by GOP legislative leaders’ retained redistricting expert, Sean Trende, that are currently being considered by lawmakers

“This is the only map proposed that contains the redistricting criteria and legislative boundaries needed to stop the Democrats,” said the party’s email, which also alleged “outside groups are seizing” Utah’s court-ordered redistricting process for a “‘blue takeover’ that would fundamentally change Utah’s voice in Washington.” 

The Utah GOP’s email warned that “the current push aims to give Democrats” two out of Utah’s four seats in the U.S. House, and that “if adopted, the Democrats could gain control of Congress.” 

Third District Judge Dianna Gibson will ultimately decide which congressional map will remedy the 2021 boundaries that she ruled last month were a product of an unconstitutional process after Utah lawmakers that year repealed and replaced Better Boundaries’ voter-approved ballot initiative, known as Proposition 4, that sought to create an independent redistricting process. 

Utah Democratic Party Chair Brian King criticized the Republican Party’s email in a post on X on Wednesday saying, “Appreciate your honesty @UtahGOP, surprising as it is, about putting in writing that Republicans are begging for the most rigged and the least competitive map. Embarrassing.” 

Compared to the 2021 congressional map that has since been voided by the courts, all of the maps currently being considered by the Utah Legislature would be more competitive for Democrats — but some would be more favorable to Utah’s dominant political party than others. 

Map C would mix rural and urban parts of Utah, split three cities (Millcreek, North Salt Lake and Pleasant Grove) and split three counties (Davis, Salt Lake and Utah). 

A map drawn by Democrats’ hired redistricting expert Daniel Magleby and submitted by the Legislative Redistricting Committee’s only two Democrats — Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, and Rep. Doug Owens, D-Millcreek — would carve two concentrated districts around Utah’s most populated areas along the Wasatch Front and lump rural areas in two sprawling districts to the north and south. 

According to a news release issued Wednesday, the Utah Democratic Party “has not endorsed a specific map out of respect for the public process established by Proposition 4 and the court proceedings.”

“We’re encouraging Utahns to participate and share their voices, not coaching them on which map would advantage us,” King said in a prepared statement, which also criticized the Utah GOP for advising Republicans to support a specific map. 

“For weeks, Republican members of the redistricting committee have lectured Utahns about avoiding partisan commentary and keeping politics out of the process,” King said. “Meanwhile, their own party is flooding inboxes with instructions on which map to support — because it’s the least competitive — and how to defend it. The hypocrisy is stunning.”

King continued: “For them, this isn’t about fairness or following the law. This is about Republicans admitting they’re terrified of competitive districts where voters actually have a choice. They just admitted what we already knew, and they put it in writing.”

Utah Republican Party Chair Rob Axson told Utah News Dispatch on Wednesday that the Utah GOP is within its rights to advise donors and delegates as they weigh what maps to support and comment on. 

“There is no obligation for the Utah Republican Party to muzzle itself and not fight for what it believes in,” Axson said. 

He also noted the party’s efforts are separate from the Legislative Redistricting Committee’s work. 

“It’s ridiculous to conflate that,” he said. “The Legislature was told by the judge that they couldn’t (draw maps with) partisanship. And I’ll tell you, they haven’t consulted with me. I haven’t consulted with them. We’ve all abided by that process.” 

Axson said the 10-day public comment period that ends Sunday — the day before the Legislature is expected to vote on a preferred map to submit to the court — is there for Utahns to weigh in. 

“It takes a special kind of arrogance to try to tell a million Utahns that they’re not allowed to engage in the process,” Axson said. “We are Republicans. We have every right to engage in the process. … Yes, the Republican Party is not going to just sit sheepishly on the sidelines waiting for Brian King’s permission to comment on things.” 

Axson said the party is encouraging Republicans to support Map C because it mixes urban and rural voices, which he argues is a better approach to get more holistic and nuanced representation in Congress. For example, he said school districts in Salt Lake County rely on funding from school trust land investments in rural areas, and issues like water and energy span across rural counties. 

“When you have an elected official who doesn’t have to be accountable to those other interests but still wants all the benefits that comes from that, I think Utah is at a significant disadvantage,” he said, adding that the state is already outnumbered when it comes to representation in Congress. “So to further limit our ability to have that unified voice of what Utah needs would be a detriment.” 

While King said Map C would be the “least competitive” option, Axson argued that it would still be more competitive for Democrats. 

“Map C shows a couple of these districts drop from 70% Republican towards like 52%,” Axson said. “How much more of a thumb on the scale do they want?”

Axson also emphasized that his party is encouraging supporting Map C as “the best option among all bad options, frankly,” because they continue to disagree with the court’s ruling and would prefer that the 2021 boundaries stay in place. 

However, he also said that if Republican party members want to support other map options, “more power to them.” 

“We’re not the ones telling people they have to behave a certain way,” he said, while also adding, “the role of a political party is to promote and defend the principles that it believes in.”

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