Dem
47
GOP
53
While we are on the subject of extreme gerrymandering, let's take a look at Utah. Heavily Democratic Salt Lake County has 1.2 million of Utah's 3.5 million residents, so you might think Democrats could win (at least) one of Utah's four House seats. If you thought that, how silly of you. The Republican-controlled state legislature prevented that disaster by dividing Salt Lake County among the four outlying districts to make sure no Democrat could be elected to the House. In August, a state judge threw the map out as a violation of the state's Constitution.
A new court-ordered map isn't quite as bad as the original. One district is R+6 and another R+11. In a blue wave, winning an R+6 district is at least conceivable. An R+11 district would require a really big blue tsunami, and Utah is over 500 miles from the nearest ocean. Still, the Democrats are drooling over the R+6 district. With the current map, three of the districts are R+10 and one is R+14. The new map needs to be approved by a judge by Nov. 10.
Democrats even have a candidate lined up. It is former representative Ben McAdams, who unseated then-Rep. Mia Love in 2018 during the blue wave that netted the Democrats 41 House seats that year. McAdams lost to Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT) in 2020 by 3,765 votes. McAdams is likely to face a primary, though, from 2024 Senate candidate Caroline Gleich and a couple of state senators. Gleich is a professional skier and environmental activist. Winning the new R+6 district will be an uphill climb, but Gleich knows about uphill climbs. She scaled Mt. Everest in 2019. (V)