The Oklahoma State Capital

OKLAHOMA CITY -- An Oklahoma County GOP legislator who was reared in "Little Dixie" has submitted a congressional redistricting plan that incorporates features appealing to Republicans and Democrats alike.

Rep. Wayne Pettigrew said he drew the plan over the past week in an attempt to resolve a political impasse that has dragged on for weeks and has resulted in lawsuits filed in both state and federal courts.

Pettigrew, an Edmond Republican, said his proposal "looks quite similar to the one released last week by Senate President Pro Tempore Stratton Taylor," a Claremore Democrat.

However, Pettigrew's proposal is unique among the myriad plans that have been introduced so far. "None of the Democratic plans has been able to muster a consensus among their own members, much less a majority in both houses of the Legislature," he noted. "It's time to try something else."

Pettigrew said his plan "endeavors to keep current district lines wherever possible while merging six districts into five, splits only three counties, and as much as possible links communities of interest." Among its features:

* Existing congressional district lines are preserved wherever possible. In fact, the Third District would remain as it is now except for two counties: Payne and Pawnee.

* Only Oklahoma, Tulsa and Payne counties would be split; the state's other 74 counties would remain intact.

* The state would be carved into five congressional districts, each containing slightly more than 690,100 residents.

* No incumbent member of Congress would be pitted against another.

* Oklahoma County would be split into three congressional districts, providing the multiple representation requested by civic leaders. Also, most of incumbent U.S. Rep. Ernest Istook's existing district in northwest Oklahoma County would remain in his new Third District.

* 300,000 Oklahoma County residents would be put into the Fifth District, almost 207,000 would be in the Third District, and 152,700 would be in the Fourth District.

* All of Oklahoma's military installations would remain in their current congressional districts. Tinker Air Force Base in the Oklahoma City metroplex, Fort Sill Army Post at Lawton and Altus Air Force Base would all remain in the Fourth, Vance Air Force Base at Enid would be in the Fifth, and the Army Ammunition Depot at McAlester would remain in the Third.

* The First District would comprise the so-called "oil center" of Tulsa, Bartlesville and Ponca City. It would be comprised of Washington, Osage, Pawnee, Kay and Noble counties, plus the eastern two-thirds of Payne County and northern, southern and eastern Tulsa County.

* The western "panhandle" of Tulsa County and the Greenwood area would be put into the Second District, while the rest of Tulsa County would remain in the First District. Wagoner and Rogers counties would remain in the Second District.

* The western third of Payne County would be put in the Fifth District, while the eastern two-thirds would be in the First District. The dividing line would be the west side of Stillwater, in the area of Sangre and Ridge roads.

* The Second District would remain in northeastern Oklahoma, the Third District would remain predominantly in southeastern Oklahoma, and the Fourth District would remain in the southwestern quadrant of the state. The new First District would expand into part of the existing Fifth District.

* The new Fifth District would comprise most of the existing Sixth District, which will disappear because Oklahoma's population growth lagged behind that of most of the nation. The Fifth District would be the "agriculture" district.

* As a practical matter, the First and Fifth Districts would probably remain Republican for the foreseeable future, and the Second District would probably remain in the hands of Democrats, but the Third and Fourth Districts "would be a toss-up," Pettigrew contended.

"I think some type of compromise is possible to preserve southeastern Oklahoma in a district that could be won by either a Democrat or a Republican," he said.

Pettigrew has a unique perspective on the issue. His family settled parts of LeFlore and McCurtain counties before Statehood in 1907. He was reared in McAlester and was graduated from Eastern Central University at Ada, where he still serves on the alumni board. After college he moved to Edmond, where he started an insurance brokerage and was elected to the Legislature in 1994.

Pettigrew has delivered copies of his redistricting proposal to Gov. Frank Keating; to House Speaker Larry E. Adair and House Minority Leader Fred Morgan; and to Senate President Pro Tem Taylor.