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. That is exactly what the Pennsylvania Supreme Court did when its legislature failed to create boundaries that were not gerrymandered.
While there is no guarantee that a congressional district that lies solely in Salt Lake County would be Democratic or Republican, it would at least be competitive. And that is the issue: The races are not competitive and, as Sen. Jim Dabakis noted, are not representative.
Allen Sanderson, Salt Lake City
