SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — An Associated Press analysis of Utah state House elections using a statistical method for calculating partisan advantage found that Republicans won about three more seats than would be expected based on the party’s share of the vote in the 2018 midterm election.
That is the same as in 2016, revealing a small built-in advantage that doesn’t alter the GOP’s overwhelming majority in the 75-seat chamber.
The AP examined U.S. House and state House or Assembly seats up for election last year using the so-called “efficiency gap” test to flag potential gerrymandering.
That gap for Utah’s four U.S. House seats flipped to a small Democratic advantage after Ben McAdams unseated incumbent Republican Mia Love.
Under a voter-approved initiative, Utah redistricting will be done by a seven-member commission following the 2020 Census.
