Facing new congressional boundaries, Utah Rep. Burgess Owens won’t seek reelection

Faced with a new court-ordered congressional map that turned one of Utah’s Republican-majority districts blue, Utah Rep. Burgess Owens has announced he won’t seek reelection.

Owens made the announcement in a lengthy post on X on Wednesday, saying he made the decision after “prayer, reflection and many long conversations.” 

“I will complete this term fully committed to my work in Washington, D.C, and then step away from elected office,” he said, promising to continue representing Utah’s 4th Congressional District until his term ends in January.

Redistricting: Federal panel denies bid to overturn Utah’s court-ordered congressional map

Owens’ announcement comes after attempts to undo the state’s court-ordered congressional map fell flat. 

Owens and one of his Republican U.S. House colleagues, Rep. Celeste Maloy, sued to get the map overturned. But last week a federal court panel denied their bid, upholding the map that created one Democratic and three Republican congressional districts for Utah for the 2026 elections. 

Owens’ statement issued Wednesday did not address the state’s anti-gerrymandering lawsuit or its resulting court-ordered congressional boundaries. But because the map created a Democratic-majority district concentrated around Salt Lake County, Utah’s current GOP congressional delegation needed to confront the reality that one of them would likely lose their seat during this year’s election. 

Upset with the court-ordered map, the GOP-controlled Utah Legislature last year pushed candidate filing deadlines back about two months, until March 9-13, in hopes of allowing time for a new congressional map to be adopted. But since a new map never materialized — and those filing deadlines are fast approaching — Owens needed to make a decision on whether he would file for reelection. 

Owens’ departure leaves three remaining Republican incumbents that are likely to run for re-election in Utah’s three Republican-majority congressional districts under the court-ordered map: Maloy, and Reps. Blake Moore and Mike Kennedy. Moore has begun collecting signatures for the primary ballot in Congressional District 2, which encompasses much of the area he was originally elected to represent. 

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“I will finish this term fully committed and fully accountable,” Owens said in his prepared statement. “My final political sprint will be here in Utah and across the country, helping my colleagues expand our Republican majority. Though this chapter closes, my commitment to advancing opportunity, advocating for our children, and strengthening families will continue in new ways.”

Owens was first elected to the U.S. House to represent Utah’s previously drawn 4th Congressional District in 2020, when he defeated Utah’s last Democratic congress member, then-Rep. Ben McAdams, by slim margins. Owens was reelected twice, and he’s served three consecutive terms. 

Prior to his service in politics, Owens played football for the New York Jets and the Oakland Raiders in the ’70s and ’80s. 

In his announcement that he wouldn’t be seeking reelection, Owens reflected on his “political journey,” saying he’s been “proud to fight alongside” President Donald Trump.

“His commitment to working families and his willingness to confront corruption head-on reaffirm that courage still matters in public life,” Owens said. 

He also thanked Utahns “for trusting me with the responsibility to stand in the arena on your behalf.” 

With Owens’ departure, no Black U.S. House Republican incumbents will be seeking reelection in 2026, Bloomberg Government reported.

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