Big news out of Utah, where a judge struck down the GOP-controlled legislature’s partisan congressional map. It’s a huge victory for Utahns, who passed a constitutional amendment in 2018 forbidding partisan gerrymandering. The judge ruled that the GOP map, which divided liberal-leaning Salt Lake City between the state’s four districts, directly contravened the will of voters. In its place, she chose an alternative map that creates a single district centered on the city’s north — likely meaning Democrats will pick up one of the state’s four congressional seats. Recall that, in 2024, 37.8% of Utahns voted for Kamala Harris — a sizable minority heavily concentrated in Salt Lake City.
Meanwhile, in Missouri, the GOP gerrymander has opened a whole Pandora’s box of litigation. So far, we have an NAACP lawsuit to stop the special session used to draw the new map, three lawsuits arguing that conducting a mid-decade redistricting is unconstitutional, a federal lawsuit brought by Republicans trying to block a referendum on the map, and a challenge over rejected referendum petition signatures.
State courts heard two cases this week — one on the mid-decade redistricting question, and one on the petition signatures, in which referendum organizers are asking a court to stop GOP state officials from rejecting thousands of signatures they’ve collected.
We’re also keeping an eye on North Carolina, where Black and Latino voters are challenging the GOP’s new congressional gerrymander in court. A hearing is set for Wednesday.
Faced with President Donald Trump’s demands for a partisan gerrymander, GOP lawmakers in Missouri, North Carolina and Texas simply bent the knee. But, in Kansas, several Republican lawmakers are saying no to partisan redistricting. Last week, the Kansas House speaker reportedly stripped three Republicans of their leadership positions for that refusal. The GOP could still move forward with redistricting when the legislature convenes in January.
Zooming out, Trump’s national push to net more GOP congressional seats doesn’t appear to be going as he hoped — at least so far. California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 50. Virginia Democrats are pushing forward with their own redistricting. And actual or potential Republican gerrymanders in Utah and Kansas are faltering.
But the road to 2026 is still fraught with danger. Many redistricting cases will be decided by Trump-appointed federal judges, a Democracy Docket analysis shows. And, of course, looming over everything is the Callais case, in which the Supreme Court is expected to weaken or gut the Voting Rights Act and, effectively, undermine the power of Black voters. Depending on when the court issues its ruling, and what it says, the case could give the GOP a chance to wipe out many more Democratic-held seats ahead of 2026. Read more about the Utah ruling here.
