Republican lawmakers say they’ll appeal Utah’s new congressional map

House Speaker Mike Schultz said state lawmakers and Gov. Spencer Cox are “fully united” in the effort.

Responding to a stinging legal defeat in the state’s redistricting battle, Utah Republican legislators said Tuesday that they will convene a special session Dec. 9 to put a constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot in an effort to ensure lawmakers have the ability to draw political boundaries.

Republican legislative leaders said they also plan to appeal a recent district court ruling implementing new congressional boundaries for the 2026 midterm elections.

The amendment, Sen. President J. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said Tuesday morning, will clarify that ballot initiatives — like 2018’s Proposition 4, known as the Better Boundaries initiative — can’t override the Utah Constitution in ways that cannot be adjusted. Utahns, he said, “deserve a process that is clear, functional and accountable.”

“We cannot let unchecked initiatives turn Utah into California,” he added.

During a periodic news conference on PBS Utah later Tuesday morning, Gov. Spencer Cox said he backs the endeavor, and clarified that he plans to call the special session himself.

“I have deep, deep concerns about a state that is run by direct democracy,” Cox said, continuing, “We have representative democracy for a reason.”

The governor said he “very much” supports a constitutional amendment to clarify the limits he believes representative democracy places on the initiative and referendum processes.

“I’m less worried about redistricting than I am about that piece,” Cox told reporters.

Flanked by a host of GOP lawmakers, legislative leaders also reiterated that they intend to appeal 3rd District Judge Dianna Gibson’s decision to reject a map adopted by the Legislature and choose a map that creates a Democratic-leaning district in northern Salt Lake County once Gibson issues a final, appealable ruling.

Adams said it is also possible that lawmakers will push back the candidate filing deadline — now beginning Jan. 2 — to create a window for the appeal with the hope that they can change the map in time for the 2026 election.

“This is not about partisanship,” Adams said, “it’s about protecting the integrity of decisions that shape our representation.”

The details of the constitutional amendment, he said, are still being worked out.

“Today, we stand here together as not just a legislature but as two elected branches of government — both elected by the people,” said House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper. “The legislative branch and the executive branch are fully united.”

Elizabeth Rasmussen, Better Boundaries’ executive director, said news of lawmakers’ amendment effort “feels like we are repeating what the Legislature tried with Amendment D in 2024.”

“Instead of taking a closer look at the concerns Utahns have voiced about representation, we’re seeing recycled ideas that narrow the public’s role,” she added. “Ballot initiatives are already a last resort for people who don’t feel heard. Trust in government is low, and proposals like this don’t rebuild it. If this goes to the ballot, Utahns will decide whether it strengthens their voice or shifts more authority to the Legislature.”

Senate and House Democrats, in a statement, condemn the call for a special session and said they “continue to believe that Judge Gibson’s ruling should be respected.”

The Democrats said the use of taxpayer money to fund the legal battle was “fiscally irresponsible.”

After the Utah Supreme Court ruled last year that the Legislature could not repeal ballot initiatives that “alter or reform government” without unconstitutionally undermining citizens’ right to the initiative process, lawmakers rushed to ask voters to change the state constitution in 2024.

In an emergency special session, the Legislature voted to put Amendment D on the ballot. If passed, it would have amended the Utah Constitution to explicitly state that lawmakers can repeal or amend any initiative.

The Supreme Court ultimately ordered votes on the effort not to be counted, ruling the wording to describe Amendment D on the ballot — written by legislative leaders — was deceptive and would have misled voters by saying it would strengthen the initiative right, when the amendment would have severely undermined it.

The issue stems from the Legislature’s decision in 2021 to essentially repeal the 2018 Better Boundaries initiative to institute an independent redistricting process and ban partisan gerrymandering. The Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling declared lawmakers’ actions to repeal that voter-passed law unconstitutional and, in August, Gibson ruled they must adhere to Proposition 4 and directed the Legislature to draw new congressional boundaries.

Republican legislators adopted a map that favored the GOP, but Gibson rejected that map, finding that it was also a partisan gerrymander and was drawn using partisan data — both violations of Proposition 4.

Minutes after the judge’s near-midnight decision, Rep. Matt MacPherson, R-West Valley City, said on social media that he had “opened a bill to file articles of impeachment” against Gibson “for gross abuse of power, violating the separation of powers and failing to uphold her oath of office to the Utah Constitution.”

That announcement followed hints from Republican lawmakers during a special session to draw new congressional maps that they could consider impeaching Gibson for “malfeasance in office” — a direct quote of Utah’s impeachment code – if she ruled against their preferred boundaries.

But when asked Tuesday about impeaching Gibson, the House speaker said, “No, we’re not focused on that right now.”

“This is not a turf war,” Schultz said during Tuesday’s news conference. “It’s about the trust Utahns have placed in us to carry out the most fundamental constitutional duties.”