Oklahoma GOP's Congressional Map Moves Forward While State Democrats' Map Fails in Committee

Lawmakers are back at the state Capitol and are sorting out election lines that will be in place for the next 10 years.

The focus Tuesday targeted congressional map and changes to the 5th congressional district, the most closely contested seat in the state.

The Republican-proposed map cleared a House committee with a 21 to 3 vote while a Democrat-proposed map failed in a Senate committee by a 3 to 11 vote. Both votes were along party lines.

Lawmakers’ goal this week is to fit 791,871 Oklahomans into each of the state’s five congressional districts with no margin of error.

“Which means CD5 has to get smaller and CD2, for example, has to get bigger,” Senate Minority Leader Kay Floyd said.

With Republicans holding historic supermajorities in both chambers, there's not much Democrats can do to hold up the GOP proposal.

“I think the product that we have is truly a great example of what happens when Oklahomans are engaged in they’re part of a very transparent and open process,” Rep. Ryan Martinez, R-Edmond, said.

In a Monday news conference, Democrats called the GOP map clear gerrymandered.

“In the proposed CD5, you have not only Oklahoma County, and not all of Oklahoma County, but you got Logan, Lincoln, Pottawatomie and Seminole. The common interest in those communities are going to be different from the common interest in a densely populated urban area like a Oklahoma City in Oklahoma County,” Floyd said.

With all of the attention on the congressional maps, little has been said of the state House and Senate maps.

If the Republicans' timeline stays on schedule, the state and congressional maps should be sent to the governor on Friday.