Utahns reacted with shrugs and scorn to Thursday’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that political redistricting based on partisan interests is outside the purview of the federal courts.
During his monthly televised press conference at KUED, Gov. Gary Herbert was unfazed by the ruling, saying it aligns with what “a lot of us thought."
But while lawmakers, who are overwhelmingly Republican, are now explicitly free to draw maps that benefit themselves and their party, Herbert said he expects Utah will follow “as a blueprint” a recent anti-gerrymandering initiative that won a narrow majority of a statewide vote in November.