Republicans will begin hosting public hearings Monday to address their new effort to usurp the Better Boundaries initiatives.
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Proposed Congressional district maps are shown during a meeting of the Legislative Redistricting Committee at the Capitol in Salt Lake City, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025.
The Utah Republican Party ditched its attempt at an “indirect initiative,” gathering signatures to try to force the Legislature to repeal Proposition 4’s ban on partisan gerrymandering, after Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson warned its sponsors that there were “likely constitutional problems” with the effort.
Instead, the party is in the midst of taking a different approach — trying to collect about 141,000 valid signatures from across the state in an attempt to put a repeal of the Better Boundaries initiative on the ballot next year and let voters decide its fate.
Utah Republican Party Chair Rob Axson and a group of Republican activists — including former U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop and Attorney General Derek Brown — launched their indirect initiative (also called a legislative initiative) bid more than two weeks ago, the first time any group had attempted to use the tactic.
It entails gathering over 70,000 valid signatures — half as many as a regular ballot initiative — and, if successful, would have required the Legislature to take an up-or-down vote on repealing 2018’s anti-gerrymandering initiative.
While the Utah Supreme Court ruled last year that the Legislature violated citizens’ constitutional right to make law through the initiative process when lawmakers essentially repealed the Better Boundaries legislation in 2021, the Republicans’ hope was that the signature drive and voters support for the repeal could overcome that limitation.
The plaintiffs fighting in court to keep the Better Boundaries provisions in place sued almost immediately, arguing that the legislative initiative is nowhere in the Utah Constitution and therefore can’t be used to supplant the exercise of the direct ballot initiative, which is in the Constitution.
Henderson apparently agreed with the plaintiffs.
“Based on recent court rulings, Lt. Gov. Henderson expressed concern that there were likely constitutional problems with the indirect initiative because it asked for legislative action to repeal Proposition 4,” Henderson’s spokesperson, Amy Iverson, said in a statement.
Henderson’s assessment was based on the advice of lawyers from the attorney general’s office, who work for Brown.
In order for an initiative or referendum to be eligible for signature gathering, it has to be deemed to be constitutional by the lieutenant governor. Based on her assessment, the Republican Party pivoted to the more traditional approach of trying to get the Better Boundaries repeal on the ballot in 2026.
“[Henderson] had some concerns that the courts would agree with the plaintiffs,” Axson said. If Judge Dianna Gibson decided to “double down on her previous inappropriate ruling,” the party would have been back to square one.
“We decided to take control of what we have in our control,” Axson said.
So on Oct. 24, the members withdrew their legislative initiative proposal and, on the same day, filed for their new effort to put the repeal on the ballot, this time adding U.S. Sen. Mike Lee as one of the sponsors.
On Monday, the party will cross its first major milestone when it holds a required series of seven public meetings across the state — although none of them will be held in Salt Lake or Davis counties, which are home to roughly half of the state’s population.
Axson said, given the time crunch, the party had to take the spaces it could get on short notice. The law also requires the meetings to be held in specific regions of the state.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Republican state party chair incumbent candidate Rob Axson speaks with U.S. Senator Mike Lee behind him during the State Organizing Convention for the Utah Republican Party at Utah Valley University in Orem on Saturday, May 17, 2025.
“We were trying to balance the geographic spread in addition to the regular requirements so Utahns all across the state, no matter where they were, had the ability to get to the meetings within a 45-minute drive, tops,” he said.
But, Axson said, the party plans to announce an additional seven meetings next week, once it gets the details worked out. One of them will be in Salt Lake or Davis County, he said.
Once the first round of public meetings are complete, organizers can begin the process of gathering signatures. They have to submit the signatures to county clerks for verification no later than Feb. 15, at which time the clerks will have 21 days to verify that they are valid.
At the same time, the party is pushing ahead with its attempt to gather enough signatures to force a voter referendum on the map the Republican Legislature adopted. If they gather enough signatures — again, about 141,000 — by Nov. 15, the new congressional boundaries the Legislature adopted and submitted to the court would be put “on hold,” leaving it unclear what boundaries will be used in the 2026 congressional midterm elections.
Axson said the referendum push “has never been our priority. That was protecting our options and our rights.”
Because of the time it takes to validate signatures, it would likely be December or January before the process is complete. Henderson has told the court that county clerks need a map in place no later than Nov. 10, so they can make preparations to conduct the 2026 election.
The GOP’s tactics, she said previously, have created “chaos and confusion” in an already convoluted process.
Below are the times and locations for the seven public hearings the Utah Republican Party will host Monday regarding its proposed ballot initiative that seeks to repeal the 2018 Better Boundaries initiative’s ban on partisan gerrymandering. All of the hearings are at 6 p.m. on Nov. 3, except the Huntsville meeting, which is at 5 p.m.
Hurricane Branch Library
36 So. 300 West
Hurricane
Logan Library
285 North Main Street
Logan
Ogden Valley Library Auditorium
131 So. 7400 East
Huntsville
Duchesne County Library
130 So. Center Street
Duchesne
Sunset View Golf Course
1800 North Hwy 6
Delta
Jennifer Leavitt Student Center
451 E. 400 North
Price
Spanish Fork Library
80 So. Main Street
Spanish Fork
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