Judges criticized past analysis by redistricting expert hired by Utah lawmakers, records show

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Utah lawmakers hired Sean Trende, criticized by some judges, for redistricting analysis.

Trende's past testimonies were labeled "superficial" and "oversimplistic" by judges in Louisiana and Maryland.

Others have relied on Trende's analysis in gerrymandering cases, saying his conclusions were credible.

SALT LAKE CITY — Judges in Louisiana and Maryland have discounted expert testimony in the past from the redistricting expert hired by Utah lawmakers to help redraw the state's congressional boundaries, court records show.

Sean Trende is a senior elections analyst at RealClearPolitics who has given expert testimony in dozens of redistricting lawsuits across the country and helped draw Virginia's maps in 2021 after the state's independent redistricting commission deadlocked.