Republican lawmakers sue over court-ordered congressional map

Two Republican members of Congress sued Utah’s top elections official on Monday, seeking to block a court-ordered congressional map that they claimed was unlawfully imposed by a judge and tilted the state’s House delegation in favor of Democrats.

Reps. Celeste Maloy and Burgess Owens, R-Utah, along with other elected officials, including county commissioners, filed a 31-page federal lawsuit challenging the redistricting plan known as “Map 1.”

The plaintiffs argue that the map violates the Electoral Clause of the U.S. Constitution by bypassing the state legislature, which they say has specific authority to draw congressional districts.

They also claim Judge Dianna Gibson violated the Constitution by rejecting congressional maps drawn by the Utah Legislature and imposing “Map 1,” a redistricting plan prepared by lawyers and experts for advocacy groups.

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The redistricting plan “was never introduced, debated, or voted on by a single member of the Utah House or Senate,” the plaintiffs said.

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“Map 1 was instead drafted by attorneys and expert witnesses for the League of Women Voters and the Mormon Women for Ethical Government, private activist organizations with no lawmaking authority under either the U.S. or Utah Constitution,” the suit reads in part. The statement is included.

Plaintiffs ask the court to convene a three-judge panel, invalidate “Map 1” and permanently block its implementation; This is a move that will prevent the map from being used in the 2026 elections.

Rep. Celeste Maloy, R-Utah, speaks at a news conference at the Capitol Visitor Center following a meeting of the House Republican Conference on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

They also aim to return redistricting power to the Utah Legislature and reinstate the state’s 2021 congressional districts unless lawmakers pass a new map.

Republicans currently control all four of Utah’s seats in the U.S. House of Representatives under district lines approved by lawmakers after the 2020 census. Associated Press.

The AP reported that Gibson found those districts to run afoul of voter-approved anti-gerrymandering standards and replaced them with a new map that kept Salt Lake County, a Democratic stronghold, largely intact within a single district rather than splitting it into four.

“This lawsuit is not an attempt to control political outcomes. It is not an attempt to advantage one party or disadvantage another,” Maloy, Owens and other plaintiffs wrote. in a column For Desertet News. “This is not a referendum on whether districts should be competitive or compact, or how political balance should be measured. Those debates belong to the Legislature, where proposals can be publicly introduced, openly amended, and resolved by representatives accountable to voters.”

Flags fly at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City on January 18, 2026. (Sidney Schaefer/AP)

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“We filed this federal lawsuit not because it’s easy, but because it’s necessary. We’re not asking for special treatment. We’re just asking that the U.S. Constitution be upheld, that the Legislature be allowed to fulfill its statutory role under the federal Constitution, and that Utahns retain the right to elect representatives through a legitimate and accountable process,” they added. “This isn’t radical. It’s fundamental. And it’s worth defending.”