Last week, 3rd District Judge Dianna Gibson ruled the Utah Legislature violated the state constitution in 2021 when it overturned a voter-approved ballot initiative that created an independent redistricting commission meant to prevent partisan gerrymandering.

While Utah Gov. Spencer Cox disagrees with a judge’s ruling ordering lawmakers to draw new congressional maps, he said the state’s Republican party risks losing trust among voters who feel like they were ignored during the redistricting process.

“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should,” Cox said on Thursday during a National Press Club event in Washington, D.C. “As the Republican Party in Utah, not listening to people, that’s why this has gotten them so fired up. Because they did run an initiative and they felt like they’re being ignored.”

Cox spoke alongside Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, discussing issues like bipartisanship, the deployment of the National Guard to U.S. cities and declining trust in government institutions.

The governor’s comments on Utah’s redistricting case came toward the end of the hour-long discussion — and on the heels of a major political shakeup in Utah.

Last week, 3rd District Judge Dianna Gibson ruled the Utah Legislature violated the state constitution in 2021 when it overturned a voter-approved ballot initiative that created an independent redistricting commission meant to prevent partisan gerrymandering.

Known as Proposition 4, lawmakers repealed and replaced it with a new law in 2021, turning the commission into an advisory body — the legislature then decided to adopt its own congressional map, ignoring the commission’s recommendations. Several groups then sued the legislature and were handed a victory on Aug. 25.

Now, following Gibson’s ruling, the Utah Legislature must publish new maps that adhere to the guidelines outlined in the ballot initiative.

“I do disagree in this case, this is a really tough one,” Cox said. “Democrats in our state desperately want a district, even though Republicans outnumber them three to one in the state. The only way to get a Democratic district in the state is to gerrymander.”

Still, Cox had a warning for politicians of all stripes.

“There is nothing in the history of our country that makes people angrier and makes them lose trust than when they feel like the government is not being responsive to them,” Cox said.

The event also came in the wake of controversial redistricting decisions in other states. Texas Republicans recently approved new congressional maps despite not yet reaching the 10-year mark that coincides with the U.S. Census, when redistricting typically occurs. The move has been widely condemned by Democrats as an attempt to give the GOP extra seats in the U.S. House, and prompted California politicians to try and redraw their own maps to favor Democrats in order to offset Texas.

It’s yet another reason for voters to lose faith in government, Cox said.

“I share the concerns of my colleague, Gov. Moore, I hate gerrymandering, and I especially hate doing it twice in 10 years,” Cox said. “That’s the only thing worse than doing it every 10 years. And so there has to be a better way.”

Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.