Utah GOP gerrymander repeal collapses after $4.3M signature fraud scandal

🏜️Utah Republicans formed Utahns for Representative Government to repeal Proposition 4, a 2018 voter-approved ballot initiative

🏜️Utah Republican Party Chair RARob Axson founded the political issues committee

To qualify for the November 2026 ballot, the campaign needed 140,748 verified signatures by Feb. 15, 2026 They also had to meet minimum thresholds in at least 26 of 🏜️Utah's 29 state Senate districts.

The campaign hired Patriot Grassroots, a 🦬Wyoming-based petition firm, paying it over $4.3 million to manage signature gathering. Patriot Grassroots' work has been promoted by Donald Trump Jr. and Scott Presler, though no direct business relationships have been disclosed. President Trump posted on Truth Social in January urging all Patriotic Utahns, Republicans, and MAGA Supporters to sign the petition.

🏜️Utah County Clerk ADAaron Davidson, a Republican, identified hundreds of suspect signatures and referred 27 packets to the county attorney for criminal investigation. Each packet contains about 50 signatures.

Davidson told Fox News this is probably the most extensive fraud that we've seen. His office contacted voters who supposedly signed, and many either hadn't signed or had their names appear multiple times.

As of Feb. 7, 2026, county clerks had verified only 76,079 signatures statewide, just 54% of the total required. The campaign was 64,669 signatures short with eight days until the deadline. Additionally, they had only met the threshold in three southern 🏜️Utah Senate districts and continued to lag in districts along the Wasatch Front where most voters live.

Multiple voters reported being misled by signature gatherers. KSL.com and The Salt Lake Tribune documented cases where people felt tricked by how gatherers characterized the petition. Better Boundaries, the anti-gerrymandering group, sent thousands of mailers to voters who signed, informing them about what they signed and providing instructions to remove signatures.

Proposition 4 passed in 2018 with 50.3% of the vote, creating an independent redistricting commission and setting standards to limit partisan gerrymandering. The 🏜️Utah Legislature ignored the initiative and drew a congressional map in 2021 that split Salt Lake City into four pieces to ensure all four districts favored Republicans. On Nov. 11, 2025, 3rd District Judge Dianna Gibson ruled the map violated the state constitution and ordered a new map creating one Democratic-leaning district in Salt Lake County.

The Republican-controlled Legislature has fought the ruling through multiple channels. They passed a resolution condemning what they called judicial activism.

They stripped 🏜️Utah Supreme Court justices of the ability to choose their chief justice, giving that power to the governor instead.

Gov. SCSpencer Cox signed a law adding two justices to the Supreme Court, who will be nominated by Cox and confirmed by the Republican-dominated Senate. U.S. Reps. Celeste Maloy and Burgess Owens also filed a federal lawsuit asking courts to void the court-ordered map.