Earlier this week, a Utah state judge threw out the state’s congressional maps, concluding that the state legislature had overstepped its bounds in repealing a voter initiative that handed the redistricting task from the legislature to an “independent” commission. Republicans, such as Senator Mike Lee, cried foul, and this is only a trial court ruling and may well not survive on appeal. The legislature has made noises about fighting this to the U.S. Supreme Court, and at a minimum could take the dispute to the Utah Supreme Court. The stakes are precisely one seat: Utah has four congressional districts, all Republican-held, but a map that builds a district around liberal-leaning Salt Lake City rather than dividing it could open a more competitive seat for Democrats. And one seat could yet decide the House. As a result, just as important as the outcome of the case may be whether it is resolved ahead of the 2026 midterms, and what the state appellate courts do in the interim to stay or not stay the ruling.

Leaving aside the merits of the 76-page, single-spaced decision, it stands as a warning to California Democrats. While Judge Dianna Gibson ruled on the basis of Utah rather than federal law, California Republicans have challenged a similar effort in their state under their own state-law principles about legislative versus commission control of the process. Those arguments won the day in New York in 2022, thwarting an aggressive Democratic gerrymander. Judge Gibson’s decision could put Democrats in California in the uncomfortable position of responding to the very arguments their own party is making in Utah. True, it may be harder to find Republican-sympathetic judges in California than Democrat-sympathetic judges in Utah (or anywhere). And it’s less a question of judicial precedent — the intricacies of state constitutional law vary from state to state — than a reminder that state law still matters and a visible sign that both parties are, as usual in a federal system, arguing out of both sides of their mouths on the same issues in different places.