Defending Fair Maps for Utahns (Powers Gardner v. Henderson)

In 2018, a coalition of Utah voters from across the political spectrum passed a citizen initiative called Proposition 4, which established neutral redistricting requirements and criteria and prohibited partisan gerrymandering.

In 2020, the Utah Legislature overruled the will of the voters and repealed Proposition 4. It subsequently enacted an extreme partisan gerrymander, which would have locked in one-party control of Utah’s congressional delegation while silencing voters with minority political viewpoints.

In 2022, Campaign Legal Center filed a lawsuit in state court challenging the repeal of Proposition 4 and the gerrymandered 2021 map. Following a series of court rulings and multiple victories for CLC and our clients, on August 25, 2025, the Utah’s Third District Court ruled that the Legislature violated the Utah Constitution when it repealed Proposition 4.  

As a result, Proposition 4 once again became controlling law in Utah, and the court struck down the 2021 map as illegal. In order to have a new, legal map for the 2026 election, the court set out a remedial schedule that gave the Legislature the first opportunity to enact a new congressional map.  

In response to the court’s ruling, the Utah Legislature instead passed a new gerrymandered map that did not comply with Proposition 4’s neutral redistricting requirements. To ensure a legal map was in place in time for the 2026 election according to the deadlines set by the Lieutenant Governor, on November 10, 2025, the court thus ordered in place “Map 1,” a fair and legal map proposed by the state court plaintiffs that complies with Proposition 4 and federal law.

The Federal Case

In response to the state court litigation, two members of Congress, county commissioners, mayors and sheriffs have filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the state court judge’s decision to impose a fair map, where no legal map drawn by the Legislature existed, in line with the requirements of Proposition 4.

Campaign Legal Center, along with co-counsel and on behalf of our clients LWVUT, MWEG and individual voters, has sought to intervene in this lawsuit and protect the principles of fair representation that Utahns voted for when they approved Proposition 4.  

The plaintiffs in this case are advancing a version of the dangerous “Independent State Legislature Theory.” This extreme legal theory would give the Utah Legislature nearly unchecked power to set rules for federal elections, handing politicians in the Legislature a license to gerrymander in defiance of state law and the lawful orders of Utah’s state courts when drawing congressional districts.

In this case, Campaign Legal Center argues that the federal courts lack the authority to override the considered judgment of Utah’s voters in enacting Proposition 4 and Utah’s state courts in enforcing the initiative’s promise. CLC is asking the federal court to dismiss the plaintiffs’ lawsuit and let the process continue to play out in state court, where the Utah Supreme Court is currently considering similar issues.