SALT LAKE CITY — Thanks to the judge's pick of a new congressional map that creates more competitive districts, Democratic candidates are rushing to declare their candidacies.

In a ruling late Monday, Judge Dianna Gibson rejected the legislature's proposed map in the redistricting lawsuit brought by the League of Women Voters of Utah and Mormon Women for Ethical Government. Instead, she selected a map proposed by the plaintiffs that she declared was more aligned with the neutral criteria of voter-approved Proposition 4.

Where Utah's previous four congressional districts split the state like a pizza, creating a mix of urban and rural districts (that critics say diluted more moderate and Democratic-leaning voters), the new map makes a large part of Salt Lake County a "donut" with more com

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