When Proposition 4 passed in 2018, it did so because it was balanced. A bipartisan coalition of Utahns — Republicans, Democrats and independents — believed we could improve redistricting without abandoning legislative authority.
As a Republican board member of that original effort, I supported the vision of a fair, transparent process that respected both the voters and the Legislature’s constitutional role. Proposition 4 was never about engineering election outcomes or favoring one party. It was about transparency, fairness and restoring public trust in how political boundaries are drawn.
That promise — independence, not partisanship — is being lost.
From reform to partisanship
The organization that once championed Prop 4, Better Boundaries, has drifted from its bipartisan roots. What began as a Utah-based reform effort has become, in my view, a nationalized campaign focused on a single political goal: to secure a Democratic congressional seat.
That’s not reform. That’s partisanship dressed as fairness.
Utahns didn’t vote for that. They voted for a citizen-led process that respected all communities, not one ZIP code or political base.
A reform built on balance
Prop 4 succeeded because it struck a careful balance: transparency and public input paired with the Legislature’s constitutional duty to draw maps. Its standards — equal population, compactness and respect for communities of interest — were meant to guide lawmakers, not replace them.
The compromise that followed Prop 4 made this explicit: the Legislature would consider the independent commission’s work, but it was never obligated to adopt those maps. The ultimate responsibility still rests with elected representatives under Article IX of the Utah Constitution.
That’s what Utah voters approved. They didn’t hand redistricting to the courts, nor to advocacy groups funded to litigate until they get their preferred outcome. Yet that’s where we are today — with interest groups using lawsuits as a weapon rather than a check. That is not what voters endorsed in 2018.
The myth of the “Salt Lake seat”
Reform advocates have become fixated on carving out a Salt Lake County-only district in the name of “fairness,” ignoring the rest of the state in the process. Utah’s political landscape is what it is — overwhelmingly Republican — and no redistricting process drawn with neutral criteria would change that. The push to isolate one urban area isn’t about fairness; it’s about manufacturing competitiveness where it doesn’t naturally exist.
In doing so, they disregard the very principles Prop 4 was designed to protect — keeping genuine communities of interest together. The same reformers who argue that Salt Lake County must never be divided have no problem lumping together rural counties that share little in common, so long as it helps carve out an urban district that benefits Democrats.
True fairness can’t be defined by whether one urban area gets its own seat. Prop 4 was about ensuring that all Utahns — from Vernal to St. George — are represented in coherent, sensible districts.
Restoring confidence through leadership
The Legislature’s role in redistricting isn’t a threat to democracy — it’s part of it. When lawmakers follow the process openly, take public comment and act transparently, they’re upholding both Prop 4’s spirit and the Constitution’s text.
Utahns deserve reform that restores confidence, not confusion. It’s time for cooperation, not litigation — for legislators to recommit to transparency and for advocacy groups to rediscover neutrality over activism.
Prop 4 was built on trust — between citizens and their government, between Republicans and Democrats. That trust has eroded, but it can be rebuilt.
The way forward isn’t about creating a “Salt Lake seat.” It’s about honoring what Utah voters actually supported: a fair, open and balanced process that serves the entire state.