Potential Democratic candidates seeking to break through Utah’s Republican stronghold are pushing back against GOP efforts to eliminate the congressional map approved by the state Legislature last week.
Shortly after state lawmakers approved the updated boundaries — giving Democrats at least one, possibly two, competitive races in the 2026 midterm elections — a handful of candidates expressed interest to the Deseret News in running for a House seat to upend Utah’s all-Republican congressional delegation in the state. Most of those candidates say they are undeterred by the latest efforts to repeal the map entirely.
“Utahns voted for fair maps all the way back in 2018 and Utah’s supermajority Republicans have engaged in a deliberate process to undermine the voters at every turn,” state Sen. Nate Blouin, who represents Millcreek, told the Deseret News. “Our state deserves representation that mirrors the diverse nature of Utah, ensuring that both rural voters and urban communities have a voice in a way they have been deprived of. The GOP lawfare is a tactic to ensure Republican control of Congress, putting Trump and the D.C. elite ahead of Utahns.”
Blouin said although Republicans may be successful in blocking the maps from taking effect before next year, he believes Democrats would eventually win over one of Utah’s four districts in the coming years.
“Utah voters will see through the ruse and use their votes to keep the supermajority in check,” he said. “I’m confident that no matter the outcome, Utah will soon send a representative to Washington that puts the people of our state over the power of their party.”
The sentiments come after the Utah GOP announced on Tuesday it would be filing a referendum petition to eliminate the new congressional districts greenlighted by the Legislature last week. The map would solidify two of the seats — District 1 and District 4, which encompass northern Utah and southwestern Utah, respectively — as solidly Republican while making Districts 2 and 3 much more competitive.
The referendum, if it receives the required 150,000 signatures, could mean the map would be thrown out and instead place it on the 2026 ballot for voters to approve. Those signatures would need to be collected by Nov. 10.
The accompanying ballot initiative would seek to repeal Prop 4, an anti-gerrymandering initiative passed in 2018 that outlines requirements for redistricting and created an independent commission to recommend congressional maps every 10 years.
Kael Weston, another Democrat who has expressed interest in running for Congress next year, criticized the duel proposals as evidence that state Republicans “fear fair maps.”
“Voters across our fast-growing Beehive State should not fall for the supermajority’s never-ending gamesmanship. They are trying yet again to literally pull a fast one on us,” Weston, who previously ran for the House in 2020 as well as the Senate Democratic primary in 2022, told the Deseret News. “Serious times warrant serious candidates. More one-party rule will hurt all of us across Utah and the U.S. of A. in this dangerous era of growing Trump party authoritarianism. Whatever the CD map in 2026, stubborn and stalwart Utah Democrats — I am both — will not be silent. Or give up.”
Other potential candidates are weighing the situation, with state Sen. Kathleen Riebe telling the Deseret News her team “anticipated these hurdles” and said that they will plan accordingly. Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, was the first Democrat to publicly express interest in running for the House if the new map was implemented.
Other Democrats considering a bid include former Rep. Ben McAdams and former Senate candidate Caroline Gleich.
Democrats need to net three seats in the 2026 midterm elections to wrest control of the House. The party also has historical precedence on its side as trends show that the party of the sitting president typically loses control of the House during midterm elections.
A new map could also thrust Utah into the middle of a national redistricting war taking place in states such as Texas and California as leaders in both parties examine congressional boundaries and how they can be altered ahead of the midterm elections.