A Utah judge just handed Democrats a major win ahead of the 2026 midterms, tossing out a GOP-drawn congressional map and replacing it with one that carves out a new Democratic-leaning district in the deep-red state.

Utah District Judge Dianna Gibson ruled late Monday that the map approved by the Republican-controlled legislature “unduly favors Republicans and disfavors Democrats.” The ruling wipes out the current lines, which gave the GOP control of all four congressional districts.

The move marks the latest flashpoint in a coast-to-coast redistricting war, one pitting President Donald Trump and his Republican allies against Democrats fighting for control of the House.

Gibson’s decision stemmed from a lawsuit by the League of Women Voters of Utah and Mormon Women for Ethical Government, who claimed the legislature’s map violated a 2018 voter-approved redistricting reform measure banning partisan gerrymandering. The new map, backed by the plaintiffs, keeps almost all of heavily blue Salt Lake County intact in one district — instead of slicing it into four Republican strongholds as the old map did.

Democrats cheered the ruling. “The DNC applauds the decision to choose a fair, impartial map that reflects the diversity and ideological makeup of the state,” said DNC Chair Ken Martin. “Utah Republicans gerrymandered the maps because they knew they were losing power in the state. Republicans doubled down when they chose to submit another gerrymandered map, but today, they were once again thwarted by impartial Courts.”

Martin added that “Democrats will continue to fight for fair maps in Utah, regardless of what Donald Trump and Utah Republicans try next.”

Republicans fumed, accusing Gibson of overstepping her authority. “Judge Gibson has once again exceeded the constitutional authority granted to Utah’s judiciary,” said state GOP Chair Robert Axson. “After stretching the law to justify taking control of redistricting, she has now rejected Map C — the only option that respected the Legislature’s constitutional role — and imposed a map of activists who are not accountable to Utahns.”

“This is not interpretation,” Axson blasted. “It is the arrogance of a judge playing King from the bench.”

The Utah ruling lands just days after California voters approved Proposition 50, which hands map-drawing power back to the Democrat-dominated legislature and is expected to yield five more blue seats. That move balances out Texas, where a new red map could add up to five GOP-leaning districts.

“California stepped up. Now, we are taking this fight across the country — helping Democrats in other states push back against Trump’s election rigging,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom told Fox News Digital last week.

Trump’s team has been aggressively pushing mid-decade redistricting in red states like Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio, part of a strategy to bulk up the GOP’s slim House majority heading into the 2026 midterms.

Democrats, meanwhile, are moving to redraw maps in Illinois, Maryland, and Virginia to protect their own turf. The battle lines are drawn — and with Utah’s ruling, the fight over who controls Congress just got even hotter.

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