Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz said Utah’s Constitution is clear-eyed about who should draw political boundaries in the state: elected lawmakers, not activist judges.
“Utah’s Constitution is clear,” Schultz said in late October. “The people elect their lawmakers and those lawmakers draw Utah’s districts.”
Schultz pointed to Article IX of Utah’s Constitution. “The authority to draw the political boundaries resides within the legislature, which is elected by the people, not the judicial branch,” Schultz said. “Utahns are right to question why one unelected judge is considering throwing out our congressional maps”
Schultz said Utahns are right to be concerned about the possibility of a court replacing maps approved by the Legislature. Schultz called the action “the very definition of legislating from the bench.”
He noted that the current maps were adopted following a statewide public process in 2021 that took into account months of public input in hearings across the Beehive State.
Schultz criticized what he described as outside political pressure on Utah’s redistricting process. “An effort to override the will of the people is being driven by out-of-state interest groups, backed by national liberal organizations and attorneys from Washington, D.C.” he said. He added that these groups are trying to “gain another Democrat seat in Congress.”
The speaker pointed to voter registration data as evidence.
“Only about 14 percent of Utah voters are registered Democrat,” he said. “It takes over 50 percent to win a seat. The only way to draw a guaranteed Democrat seat in Utah is to gerrymander the map.”
“This isn’t about fairness,” he added. “It’s about forcing a political outcome. The left can’t win at the ballot box.”
Schultz said the Legislature will continue defending Utah’s Constitution.
“This is judicial activism at its worst,” Schultz said. “Legislating from the bench and overriding the will of the people. Our Constitution, our voice must come first. We will push back every step of the way to do what’s right. Utahns deserve judges who interpret the law, not rewrite it.”