Utah Is On the Map

And this one's personal.

It finally happened. A judge ruled Utah’s gerrymandered congressional maps unconstitutional and ordered new, fair maps by this November. It’s the biggest redistricting win in state history, and it means Utah voters will finally have a real voice in the 2026 elections.

Normally, this is where we’d dive in as Elevate PAC, in our usual “we” voice. But today’s ruling feels different, and more personal. So, hi — it’s Jackie. I don’t usually step out like this, but I have a special connection to this fight. From the very beginning, Better Boundaries was part of my story. I was part of the scrappy little team that, in late 2016, started asking the question: could Utah voters actually pull off a ballot initiative on something as big as redistricting? At the time, the idea was basically unheard of — and everyone said it was impossible.

After the 2016 election, we conducted interviews to reflect on election results, hear what people cared about most, and what they wanted to do next. Again and again, people brought up the same thing: redistricting. The feeling that their vote didn’t matter because politicians were drawing the lines to protect themselves. That’s what convinced us we were on to something real.

I went all in. I researched how the initiative process even worked in Utah by reading each and every line of the Utah Code, mapped out the logistics of statewide hearings, figured out how to bind and number packets so they wouldn’t get thrown out. Later, as the Volunteer Director, I trained volunteers and stood outside in snowstorms collecting signatures across the state. I even named it (you’re welcome we didn’t go with my other brainstormed option: All Lines Matter. A joke, I promise).

That’s why this ruling lands so hard. Because what started as a late-night question in 2016 “can voters really change the rules of the game?” just became the law of the land in 2025.

And before I get into the story of how impossible this all felt, and why it matters so much right now, let me pause for one important thing: this win only holds if we protect it. We’ve set up one link where you can donate to the three groups carrying this fight forward, at the same time:

• Better Boundaries (to keep up the legal battle),

• Alliance for a Better Utah (to hold the Legislature accountable), and

• Elevate PAC (to recruit candidates who can win on fair maps).

👉 Donate here to make sure this victory actually becomes fair maps in 2026.

When It All Felt Impossible

Back when we started this, the idea of Better Boundaries didn’t feel historic or inevitable. It felt impossible.

I was young and worse, a young woman in Utah politics. Which meant being underestimated, harassed, or treated like I didn’t belong. I loved politics, but it never felt like it was built for me. It was always written for someone else.

I still remember one drive from Salt Lake to Moab for a volunteer training. I cried the entire way. At the time, I was fighting work battles over internal company dynamics while being told that my work wasn’t important. By the time I arrived, I was a wreck. That training was the worst one I ever gave. The volunteers grilled me and I struggled. I led it anyway. But I can’t pretend it went well.

That’s what those years felt like: terrifying, exhausting, humiliating at times and still, I kept going, because I believed we deserved better.

The work itself was unglamorous. Late nights drafting travel itineraries to zig-zag the state on a shoestring budget. Spreadsheets to keep track of which counties still needed signatures and which volunteers had packets sitting at home that needed to be returned. Hours standing outside liquor stores, clipboard in hand, begging strangers to stop long enough to sign. And then, painstakingly, we validated each and every signature, with packets stacked high, covered in Post-it notes, checked and re-checked until our eyes blurred.

Everyone told us it couldn’t be done. “You’ll never get enough signatures.” “Volunteers can’t pull this off.” “No one actually cares about gerrymandering.”

And then… we did. Box after box of petitions piled up. And we gathered enough signatures to get Better Boundaries on the ballot. Enough voters saying yes to make it law.

What felt impossible became possible, one signature at a time.

The House Always Wins

When voters passed Prop 4 in 2018, I wasn’t in Utah anymore. I had moved to New York City. And frankly, Utah politics had driven me out. It was so hard, so toxic, that I truly thought I’d never come back. I wanted out that badly.

But even from across the country, I watched the election results. Then, years later, I watched the Legislature do what it always does: take something voters had worked for and rip it apart. In 2021, they gutted Prop 4, stripping away the real reforms. Then they sliced Salt Lake County into four congressional districts, not because it made sense. Because it kept them safe.

It felt like a cruel joke. Years of impossible work, tossed aside with a shrug. That’s what it’s like going up against power here: you win, and then they change the rules. You build something, and then they tear it down.

And yet, Utahns didn’t quit. Mormon Women for Ethical Government and League of Women Voters filed the lawsuit. They carried the fight forward when the rest of us were too tired, too burned out, or too far away. They argued what we all knew: that this wasn’t just unfair, it was unconstitutional.

The case dragged on… appeals, delays, every stall tactic you can imagine. It felt like another impossibility, one more uphill climb in a state that never seems to run out of them.

But just like each hard moment, we kept going. People still believed. And that’s how we got to yesterday’s ruling.

The Ruling

The real turning point came last summer. In July 2024, the Utah Supreme Court ruled that when voters use an initiative to reform government, the Legislature can’t just erase it. That was huge, I even wrote a whole thread about it at the time because it felt like validation of what we’d been fighting for since 2016.

But the case didn’t end there. It went back down to the district court for the details. And yesterday, Judge Dianna Gibson gave them.

She ruled that the Legislature’s repeal of Prop 4 was unconstitutional. Not kind of. Not maybe. Unconstitutional. And she did more than slap their wrist, she reinstated Prop 4 and ordered new, fair maps to be drawn by November.

Reading that decision felt like stepping back into that first day in 2016, staring at the Utah Constitution and wondering if the words about voters being able to “alter or reform” their government actually meant anything. Yesterday, they did.

After years of feeling out of place in politics, of thinking the law wasn’t meant for people like me, here was proof that persistence mattered. That ordinary Utahns could bend the system back toward fairness.

For once, the impossible wasn’t impossible anymore.

What Happens Now

So what does this actually mean?

It means that by November 1, 2025, Utah has to have brand-new congressional maps in place, maps that follow the rules voters wrote into law back in 2018. Those maps will be used in the 2026 elections.

For the first time in more than a decade, Utah voters could walk into an election and actually choose their representatives, instead of the other way around. That’s seismic. A political landscape that finally reflects the state we live in now, not the one the Legislature keeps trying to freeze in place.

Of course, the Legislature will probably appeal, because that’s what they do. Delay, stall, run out the clock. But here’s the thing: appealing doesn’t automatically stop the process. Unless a higher court explicitly pauses it, the deadline stands. And the Utah Supreme Court has already made it clear where they stand on voter-led reform.

So the clock is ticking. The Legislature has a choice:

• Appeal again, burning more time and taxpayer money fighting a losing battle, or

• Accept reality, follow the law, and finally give Utahns the fair maps they demanded back in 2018.

And for the rest of us? It’s go time.

2026 could be the first election in years where Utah voters actually get to see what their voice is worth.

We See What You’re Doing

To Utah legislators who are definitely reading this right now (hi little stalkers 👋) let’s be honest: you lost. Fair and square. And instead of respecting voters, you’re already plotting your revenge.

We know what you’re up to. You’re not just thinking about an appeal. Brady Brammer is literally drafting impeachment documents against Judge Dianna Gibson. Retaliating against the judiciary for doing her job. That’s not “defending the Constitution.” That’s trying to bulldoze it.

Judge Gibson isn’t an “activist judge.” She’s upholding the same Constitution you swore to protect. And the more you attack her, the clearer it becomes that you’re not afraid of “judicial activism.” You’re afraid of accountability.

Here’s where the rest of us come in. You have some very important action steps:

• Call your legislator. Tell them not to appeal, and absolutely not to threaten or retaliate against the courts.

  • Use our new 5 Calls tool. We’ve partnered with the app that helped millions contact Congress and now it’s rolling out for Utah’s state legislature.

• Send an email. Keep it simple: “Respect the ruling. Deliver fair maps. Stop wasting time and money.”

• Tell your friends. Forward this email to ten people so you don’t get cursed with another decade of gerrymandered maps. (Yes, we’re bringing back early-2000s chain-emails for democracy.)

And, if you can, chip in to keep the fight strong. We’ve set up one link where your donation will go three ways: Better Boundaries to continue the legal battle, Alliance for a Better Utah to hold the Legislature accountable, and Elevate PAC to recruit and train candidates who can actually win under these fair maps. All three are essential pieces of what comes next and we’ll need every one of them to make this ruling real.

Because here’s the truth: they’re going to try every trick they can to keep their grip on power. Impeach judges, stall in court, run out the clock. But if we tell the stories, spread the word, and stand together, they can’t get away with it.

Impossible Until It Isn’t

Sometimes I think about that drive from Salt Lake to Moab in 2017, crying the whole way, convinced I was in over my head, certain that Utah politics wasn’t built for someone like me. I left the state so burned out I swore I’d never come back.

And yet, here I am. Back. Still fighting the same fights, in the same state that has tried so hard to make people like me feel small, powerless, or out of place. The difference now is that I’m not afraid to say it out loud.

That’s the lesson of Better Boundaries, and of yesterday’s ruling: when it feels impossible, you try anyway. When they tell you no, you try again. When they tear it down, you rebuild. And sometimes — not always, but sometimes — you win.

So if you’re tired, if you’ve thought about leaving, if you’ve felt like politics isn’t built for you: I get it. I’ve been there. But this ruling is proof that persistence matters. That Utah can be different. That the law, the maps, the future: they do belong to us.

And now it’s up to us to protect it.

So call your legislator. Use 5 Calls. Donate here. Forward this to ten friends like your life depends on it. Because every little bit matters.

What felt impossible in 2016 is possible now. And what still feels impossible about Utah’s future? Well…that just means we’re not done yet.