During visit to Utah, party chair says state could help Democrats win House majority

The head of the national Democratic Party said Utah has emerged as an important foothold to help Democrats flip Congress blue in the 2026 midterm elections because of its new, court-ordered congressional district map.

Amid a nationwide redistricting arms race to carve up increasingly partisan districts, Utah also serves as a model of how to ensure that Democratic areas receive representation, Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin said.

“I think what happened here is a real model, right, which is to make sure that communities of interest are not disenfranchised, that their voting power is not split in ways that we’ve seen before,” Martin told the Deseret News on Sunday.

The process that created Utah’s new Democratic seat continues to be a polarizing development in Utah politics, boiling over into legal battles, judicial reform and an attempt by the Utah Republican Party to repeal Utah’s redistricting law.

How did we get here?

In 2018, Utah voters narrowly approved the Proposition 4 ballot initiative. The law established an appointed commission to recommend electoral boundaries every census and rules to avoid splitting cities or favoring one party over another.

Prop 4 proponents alleged that the Legislature ignored the will of the people by making those requirements non-enforceable in 2020 and by passing a map in 2021 that quartered a Democratic-leaning neighborhood in Millcreek.

The Utah Supreme Court issued a bombshell ruling in 2024 that prohibited most legislative changes to initiatives that alter the government. In August, a judge used this ruling to toss out the 2020 changes and the 2021 map.

Then, in November, the same judge, Dianna Gibson, rejected lawmakers’ attempt to draw a remedial map in compliance with Prop 4. Instead, she imposed a map drawn by the same advocacy groups who sued the state in 2022.

Impact in 2026

The 1st Congressional District now covers the majority of Salt Lake County. Voters within these boundaries leaned Democratic by 14 percentage points over the past four election cycles, jumping to 24 points in the 2024 presidential race.

Democrats only need to flip three seats to take control of the U.S. House — and that was before they were gifted a seat in Utah. National polls show Democrats with momentum ahead of the midterms after winning high-profile gubernatorial and mayoral races in 2025.

“This is a really favorable seat for us. And so when we think about CD1 here, it’s definitely an important seat for us to play in,” Martin said. “It’s a pickup for the Democrats. It will help add to our potential majority.”

The DNC is looking to build its infrastructure in Utah ahead of the 2030 census, which is estimated to reapportion one to two House seats to Utah from Democratic strongholds. This means additional national investments on top of what state parties normally receive, Martin said.

Deep blue island in Utah

The new district could catalyze a whole new political future for Utah Democrats. The 1st District primary has already drawn unprecedented Democratic attention to the Beehive State, with candidate Nate Blouin receiving endorsements from the nation’s top progressives.

Showcasing the incentives of the Democratic primary, Blouin, and fellow candidates — Michael Farrell, Eva Lopez Chavez, Liban Mohamed, Kathleen Riebe and Luis Villarreal — have framed their campaigns to the political left of former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams.

Last week, candidates, with the exception of McAdams, agreed with proposals to accuse Israel of genocide, to allow transgender treatments for minors and to abolish ICE. This comes as new poll data suggests regular Democratic voters are more moderate on these issues.

“We are a big tent party,” Martin told the Deseret News. “If we’re going to win this seat, and hold it long term, it’s got to be with a candidate who actually represents not just the values of Democrats in this district, but the values of the majority of its constituents.”

An ‘anchor’ to turn the state purple

The national Democratic Party’s focus on Utah goes well beyond the midterms. The creation of the 1st District has initiated a long-term investment to turn the state purple over multiple election cycles, according to Martin.

Martin arrived in Utah on Thursday before visiting the Democratic donor hot spot of Park City. He also met with state party leaders to talk about how the 1st District can become an “anchor” to flip down-ballot races blue in the Republican state.

This will take devoting a greater share of national money to Utah than the DNC typically gives state parties, Martin said. But for the first time in 20 years, he pointed out, nearly every legislative race in the state has a Democratic contender.

“It’s one of the fastest growing states in the country, one of the youngest states in the country, and the politics of it are changing quickly as a result,” Martin said. “A pretty red state, historically, is becoming more purple.”

Utah politics by the numbers

But Utah remains overwhelmingly Republican statewide.

In 2024, President Donald Trump received more than 59% of the vote, and Gov. Spencer Cox received 53%, with another Republican Party member, Phil Lyman, running a write-in campaign. In previous years, GOP candidates approached 70% of the vote.

Across the state, there are more than 922,000 registered Republicans compared to fewer than 242,000 Democrats. Taking into account the more than 500,000 unaffiliated voters, Republicans are 52% of registered voters and Democrats are 14%.

The 1st District is an outlier.

It is home to 41% of the state’s actively registered Democrats and just 15% of the Republicans. Martin’s vision is that with greater national attention, Utah could have at least two competitive seats for Democrats when the state gets five districts in 2032.

“Putting aside CD1 for a second, it’s important to really look at the underlying trend lines in this state,” Martin said. “And that helps us actually win all the way up and down the ballot. So those investments, we can’t just stay focused on CD1.”