Recently 2nd District Rep. Chris Stewart said the current congressional boundaries are “the result of living in a Republican state” and one “would have to gerrymander to create a Democratic district.”
He is correct on the first point and wrong on the second point. The Legislature has gerrymandered five counties, including spitting Salt Lake County three ways to assure that his district and other districts are uncompetitive and Republican.
Using the recent census for Utah and a spreadsheet, it took me a couple of hours to divide the state into four districts without splitting one county — sans Salt Lake County, which is too large to be a single congressional district.