Two Republican Members of Congress Lose Utah Federal Lawsuit on Redistricting

On February 23, a 3-judge U.S. District Court in Utah declined to stop the U.S. House redistricting plan that had been imposed by a state court. Two of the plaintiffs are Republican members of the U.S. House, Celeste Maloy and Burgess Owens. Gardner v Henderson, 2:26cv-84. Here is the decision.

The plaintiffs had argued that Article One of the U.S. Constitution does not permit any government body except the legislature to write election laws for congressional elections. The Court did not agree that that theory fits this case, and furthermore said the federal case had been filed too close to the Utah primary. It agreed that the plaintiffs do have standing. The decision is unsigned. The three judges are Tenth Circuit Judge Timothy Tymkovich, a Bush Jr. appointee; Holly Teeter, a Trump appointee; and Robert J. Shelby, an Obama appointee.

Judge Tymkovich wrote separately to say he does not think the case was filed too late. But he agreed that Article One does not bar the state court from having acted, because, as he said, the state court’s authority derived from the state legislature’s pre-existing laws.

Both Sides in California Top-Two Lawsuit Ask the U.S. District Court to Postpone Status Conference Until State’s Motion to Dismiss the Case has been Resolved

On February 20, both sides in Peace & Freedom Party v Weber informed the U.S. District Court Judge that they suggest a postponement of the status conference, which had been set for February 27. They said there seems little point in holding a status conference until after the Judge has ruled on the state’s motion to dismiss the case. See here.