Republican threatens to impeach judge if another GOP gerrymander blocked
A Republican state senator in Utah has threatened that a judge who tossed out the GOP-drawn gerrymandered congressional map could face impeachment if she rejects the still-gerrymandered map the legislature is advancing to replace it.
Additionally, he even suggested impeaching the Republican lieutenant governor of the state, Deidre Henderson, if she uses a congressional map other than the one the legislature selects to certify election results in a year.
Sen. Brady Brammer, according to ABC4's Lindsay Aerts in a post to X, "threaten[ed] that if the court picks its own map, or the @LGHendersonUtah certifies elections under it, it would be a 'malfesence in office' if they use a map that has not been approved by the legislature. In other words, he's threatening that they could be impeached."
Utah voters passed a ballot proposition in 2018 requiring congressional redistricting to follow certain rules about compactness, minimizing county splits, and not using partisan considerations. However, Republicans in the legislature broadly ignored these requirements and passed a map that heavily carved up Democratic-leaning Salt Lake County between all four districts, diluting Democratic votes and ensuring Republicans would win every seat.
Their justification at the time was that this map would ensure political representation for rural areas — even though Utah is one of the least rural states by population, and even though all four Republicans elected under this map are from cities of at least 100,000 people.
State Judge Dianna Gibson rejected the GOP's arguments, finding that their map violated state law approved by voters and ordering them to draw a new one. Republicans have responded by drawing a new map that, while it splits Salt Lake County fewer times and keeps Salt Lake City wholly within one district, still keeps all four districts Republican-leaning by separating Salt Lake City from its most liberal suburbs immediately south of it.
Gibson will have the final decision on which map is implemented for the 2026 midterm elections, and the Republicans' recommended map will only be one of several under consideration.