Utah Congress members sue to try to block new House districts that boost Democrats’ chances

With the deadline to file for reelection a little over a month away, two of Utah’s Republican members of Congress are asking a federal court to block the use of new U.S. House districts that could boost Democrats’ chances of winning a Salt Lake City area seat in November.

A lawsuit filed Monday by U.S. Reps. Celeste Maloy and Burgess Owens and nearly a dozen local officials contends a state judge violated the Constitution last year when she rejected districts drawn by the Republican-led state Legislature and instead imposed an alternative House map submitted by groups suing the Legislature.

The U.S. Constitution and Utah Constitution both give redistricting powers to the state legislature, the lawsuit asserts, and “courts have no authority to draw a congressional map.” The lawsuit contends Utah’s districts should revert to those last approved by the Legislature in 2021, unless lawmakers come up with new ones.

Utah is one of several states still locked in legal battles over House voting districts ahead of the midterm election later this year.

A judge last month ordered a New York commission to redraw the only Republican-held U.S. House seat in New York City after ruling that the district unconstitutionally dilutes the votes of Black and Hispanic residents. Republicans quickly appealed.

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering an appeal of a Democratic-backed congressional redistricting plan approved by California voters. And Missouri courts are weighing a variety of legal challenges to a new U.S. House map passed by the state’s Republican-led Legislature.

Redistricting took on an unusual urgency after President Donald Trump prodded Republicans in Texas to reconfigure their U.S. House districts last year to try to give the party an advantage in the midterm election. A mid-decade gerrymandering battle then erupted in several states and is continuing to play out this month in Democratic-led Maryland and Virginia.

Republicans currently hold all four of Utah’s U.S. House seats based on districts drawn by state lawmakers after the 2020 census.

State Judge Dianna Gibson ruled in August that those districts violated anti-gerrymandering provisions approved by voters. In November, Gibson rejected a replacement map passed by the Legislature and instead imposed an alternative map submitted by the lawsuit’s plaintiffs, the League of Women Voters of Utah and Mormon Women for Ethical Government.

The revised maps keep Democratic-leaning Salt Lake County almost entirely within one district, instead of dividing it among all four districts, as was the case previously.

“The map currently in place is fair and legal,” Katharine Biele, president of the League of Women Voters of Utah, said in response to the new federal lawsuit.

Utah candidates typically must file for election by Jan. 8. But Utah lawmakers pushed back this year’s filing deadline to March 13 for congressional candidates.

Neither Maloy nor Owens has yet filed for reelection, and “their districts have been shifted to a point where the Representatives do not know which district to choose,” their lawsuit states.

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Associated Press writer Hannah Schoenbaum contributed to this report.