The Republican-led legislature in Utah has been given another loss after a federal judge allowed state judge-imposed congressional districts after that judge struck down districts approved by the legislature.
The state judge claimed Republicans had gerrymandered the state and imposed her own districts last November. Republicans then appealed it to the state’s supreme court and were overruled again.
Here’s the news:
New Utah voting districts that give Democrats an improved shot at winning a U.S. House seat can be used in this year’s election, a federal court ruled Monday while turning aside a Republican request to block the new map.
The ruling marked the second setback in recent days for Republicans, who also lost an appeal at the state Supreme Court.
A Utah judge imposed the new districts last November after striking down the congressional districts that the Republican-led Legislature had adopted after the 2020 census. The judge ruled that the Legislature had circumvented anti-gerrymandering standards passed by voters.
What’s crazy to me is that the map wasn’t sent back to the legislature to be reworked. Instead, the judge just imposed the new districts based on some so-called ‘independent commission.’
I hope Republicans have more success on appeal, but I’m not holding my breath.