Utah's 2026 Congressional Elections may have just gotten a whole lot more interesting.

I'm PBS Utah's Kelton Wells.

Just before midnight on Monday, a Utah judge issued a ruling officially selecting which map will be used for the state's congressional boundaries in the upcoming midterm elections.

Judge Dianna Gibson ultimately rejected the map approved by the Utah Legislature during their special session in October, instead selecting a map that likely creates one congressional district favoring Democrats.

Now, this all stems from a lawsuit filed by the League of Women Voters and Mormon Women for Ethical Government over the congressional boundaries the Utah Legislature adopted following the 2020 Census.

They allege state lawmaker violated the will of Utah voters by gutting Pro 4, a citizen ballot initiative that created an independent redistricting commission.

If you're not super familia with that backstory, we've made some other videos in the past that break down the history.

You can find those on our YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram pages.

“guidelines for drawing congressional...” Back to this new development.

The map Judge Gibson selected is one of two submitted by the plaintiffs.

In addition to those, Gibson had a third map to consider - the one dubbed “Map C” by the Legislature and ultimately approved by them last month.

In her ruling, Gibson assert that the Legislature's map fails to comply with Proposition 4 in several ways.

She also believes the evidenc presented to the court concludes that, quote, “Map C was drawn with the purpose to favor Republicans”.

The new map uses a format that some have described as a donut hole with one congressional district focusing on the northern part of Salt Lake County, and the surrounding areas of the state being divide into the three other districts.

The Salt Lake Tribune analyzed several potential maps using data from recent election results.

That analysis foun this map was the most favorable for potential Democratic candidates.

Reaction to the ruling has already been coming in.

Democrats in the Utah Hous and Senate put out a statement saying they, quote, “feel a deep sense of hope and relief.” Meanwhile, stat Representative Matt MacPherson, a Republican from West Valley, posted on social media that he has opened a bil to file articles of impeachment against Judge Gibson.

This is obviously a developing story and well be working to get reaction from political experts and lawmakers.

We'll bring those updates to you on our website, social media pages and YouTube channel.

Plus, on Friday, we'll bring you expert analysis of this story and all the week's top political headlines on the Hinckley Report.

For PBS Utah, I'm Kelton Wells.