Salt Lake City – The state Senate approved a map Monday for a proposed fourth congressional seat and would require new elections in all Utah districts if Congress agrees to the expansion. The state House is expected to approve the measure later in the day.
The new district would be part of a compromise that also grants the District of Columbia a voting member in the U.S. House. Nothing will happen, however, unless Congress also gives its approval in the last week of the lame-duck session and President Bush signs it into law.
Utah’s new district would run along the western edge of the state and include Tooele, Juab, Millard, Beaver, Iron and Washington counties, all Republican strongholds.
The 2nd District would be mostly urban and include Salt Lake City, the home of U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, a Democrat. The 1st and 3rd districts also would look different while still being friendly for Republicans.
Some lawmakers said they wanted to change the map that emerged from a House-Senate committee last week. A recess was called shortly before noon for private talks that lasted nearly three hours.
Democrats had complained the redistricting process was flawed because there wasn’t an independent commission to develop the map, but most voted in favor of it anyway. The measure passed 23-4.
“We have people with vested interests involved. Voters should pick legislators and legislators should not pick voters,” said Sen. Patrice Arent, D-Murray.
Sen. Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, said he wants everyone in his city to be in the proposed 4th District instead of putting some residents in the 2nd. But he did not propose an amendment.
Rep. Ben Ferry, R-Corrine, said he would like to see a better mix of rural and urban residents in each district.
Under the Senate-approved map, three districts each would have 558,292 residents and another would have an additional person.
Sens. Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights, and Darin Peterson, R-Nephi, voted against the map, saying any deal that puts the District of Columbia on par with the states violates the U.S. Constitution.
In Washington, supporters of the Utah-District of Columbia compromise were hoping for a vote today, said Brian McNicoll, a spokesman for the sponsor, U.S. Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va.
Since the 2000 census, Utah leaders have felt slighted because the government did not count 11,000 residents who were away as missionaries for the Mormon church, even though North Carolina got credit for soldiers and other federal workers abroad.
North Carolina got a 13th House seat, beating Utah by 856 residents.
Giving Utah a fourth seat before the 2010 census would also grant the state another vote in the Electoral College and raise its role in the 2008 presidential election.
Utah is an increasingly conservative state, where Republican nominees have seen their share of the popular vote rise.
