A roll of voter stickers distributed during the 2020 Utah election (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News.) (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY – Is Utah Gerrymandered? Kind of not really – it’s complicated.
Utah’s two major parties and experts explain why the current district lines are so different and why a “fair” map is nearly impossible.
A complicated population
Of Utah’s 3.2 million people, 1.9 million live on the Wasatch Front, reports the Salt Lake Tourist and Visitors Center.
The majority of Utahners are Republican. But Salt Lake City and the surrounding county – the state’s most populous areas – are democratic and are sometimes referred to as a “blue dot in a sea of red.”
Despite having a clear political community, Salt Lake City and County cannot have their own congressional district.
“The overwhelming factor that drives congressional districts is, of course, population,” said Matthew Burbank, professor of political science at the University of Utah. “What the people who draw the maps have to do is draw roughly even lines for congressional districts.”
“That’s always a challenge in Utah because our people – by and large – are grouped around the Wasatch front, and then it’s a big state and it’s dispersed,” he said.
“In practice, you have to take this population down the Wasatch front and disperse them,” Burbank concluded.
So the Wasatch Front has to be divided. The arguments start with how best to do this.
The arguments
Salt Lake County is currently divided into three congressional districts – the second, the third, and the fourth.
“The argument the Republicans used when they drew these lines is that all of our districts should encompass both rural and urban areas,” Burbank said. “This will ensure that all members of Congress are paying attention to both rural and urban concerns.”
“But I think it’s just as true – and that’s what the Democrats said at the time – well, you’re only drawing the lines this way because you want to make sure that each of those counties has a sizeable urban base, because of course Republicans cut into mostly rural areas Areas are doing pretty well, “Burbank said, noting that three of the four congressional districts are slightly Republican and only the fourth district is competitive.
What we are asking for is fairness to the communities represented, not fairness to the political party that wants to represent these people.
–Jeff Merchant, chairman of the Utah Democratic Party
In the 2020 elections, 58.2% of Utahners elected Donald Trump as president and 37.7% for Joe Biden. All four of Utah’s congressional seats – ideally each representing 25% of the population – were won by Republicans.
“That depends on who you are,” Burbank said of the two sides. “What the Republicans were saying was,” Well, you know, the majority of the people in the state are Republicans, so the Republicans should probably win all of these counties. ‘”
“The Democrats countered that, of course, by saying, ‘If you draw a district that is mostly urban … even if it’s a geographically small district, it has a lot of people in it – that could go to a Democrat, and then Republicans could “win the other three,” Burbank concluded.
Is it fair
“I don’t know if ‘fair’ is the right word,” said Jeff Merchant, chairman of the Utah Democratic Party, about the district lines drawn ten years ago. “Of course, if you’re a rancher in Sanpete County, or someone who lives on the reservation down in San Juan or Uintah County, or you’re a coal miner in Carbon County, the fact that you are represented by four congressmen, all of whom.” living on the Wasatch Front is hardly fair. “
Carson Jorgensen, the newly elected head of the Republican Party from May 2021, does not agree.
“I think showing our current boroughs is the best they could do at the time 10 years ago,” said Jorgensen. “And I think as soon as we see the new data we will be able to better estimate the growth in certain locations and make it more representative of each individual district for the next 10 years.”
The old and new 4th convention district
When asked if Salt Lake County could be divided into two districts instead of three, Burbank said, “Yes. I mean, it’s something that could be done; it has been done in the past.”
“The old Second Congressional District was mostly Salt Lake City – not quite, it was a bit more dispersed – but it had a strong population base and there, for example, Jim Matheson ran and was elected a Democrat several times,” Burbank said, citing the congressional boundaries before their redistribution in 2010.
The reality is that every time state lawmakers draw those lines, the policy is simply taken into account.
–Matthew Burbank, Professor of Political Science at the University of Utah
Burbank stated that Matheson ran in the fourth congressional district after the Republican-controlled legislature redefined lines because the second was no longer competitive. Matheson successfully won the fourth congressional district before retiring.
Speaking of what is now the Fourth Congressional District, the lines of which were redrawn in 2010, Burbank said, “That was something Republicans thought they’d made to win consistently – and they didn’t, they could don’t do it all … In fact, it was pretty tough, it went back and forth. “
“There are ways to draw these lines that are a little less politically sensitive. But the reality is that whenever state lawmakers draw those lines, they just take politics into account, ”said Burbank state officials have a legitimate interest in drawing lines that will give them an advantage in elections and disadvantage their opponents.
Less divisions?
Both party leaders noted that one goal of redistribution is to separate counties and cities less than in the past and to take a look at current practice.
“I think the purpose of redistribution is to make sure that people who look like me – to use the legal term ‘syndicates’ – stay together,” Merchant said, noting that he believes that partisan areas like Salt Lake City and Piute County should both have an agency that follows their political beliefs.
“I think from the Democratic Party’s point of view, we would want fairness to the communities represented, not fairness to the political party that wants to represent these people,” Merchant said.
At some point something will split, whether we like it or not,
–Carson Jorgensen, leader of the Republican Party of Utah
When asked if he supports keeping counties and cities together in the redistribution process, Jorgensen said, “I think if possible. I think our current laws speak for themselves in this regard. “
When asked about criticism of the Salt Lake County split, Jorgensen noted that he was not involved in previous redistribution cycles, but he hopes to investigate future boundaries.
“I think it’s something we have to look at long and fair,” said Jorgensen. “I think that’s why they created this Independent Redistribution Commission so we can really say what’s best for the state of Utah and what’s best for the people. I think all things should be considered.”
Is Utah Gerrymandered?
“I’m not sure I would use the term ‘gerrymandered’,” said Burbank. “It generally implies that the lines are drawn primarily for partisan purposes.”
“I don’t think that’s true,” Burbank continued. “I think one of the challenges Utah faces again and again is that most of our population lives in this very small area.”
Burbank said the split in Salt Lake County was “done explicitly, and for partisan reasons, but you still have that challenge – no matter how you try to draw the counties, you have to try to draw them into a shape.” In light of this, Salt Lake County will not be able to be a single congressional district simply because there are way too many people here and there are not enough other counties. “
“We also need to have districts that will include Cache Valley and Washington Counties in southern Utah and San Juan Counties and southern Utah,” added Burbank. “So there is no way to have boroughs that are just beautifully connected along the Wasatch front.”
Dealer disagreed.
“Of course I think the parts of Utah are gerrymandered,” he said. “Go to Price, Utah. Here is a community where you and Emery County have had similar interests for 100 years, working side by side … but they’re in separate house districts and instead, Carbon County is part of.” Duchesne County paired which has nothing to do with what’s going on in Carbon County – and it’s hard to get to even from Carbon County! “
“I think these are some of the problems inherent in the way Republicans chose to focus on what they call redistribution and what I would call gerrymandering,” Merchant said.
Jorgensen believes the current boroughs are fair, and creating a blue borough would also bring politically beneficial borders. “How would we have to divide this up? To achieve that, we would divide up counties.”
“I know they have to meet these particular quotas,” noted Jorgensen. “At some point something will split, whether we like it or not.”
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