Oklahoma Republican's Congressional Map Moves Forward

Lawmakers are back at the state Capitol to sort out Congressional districts that will be in place for the next 10 years.

The focus on Tuesday was really on the Congressional map and changes to the fifth district, which would cover most of Oklahoma City. That's the most closely contested seat in the state. It's flipped from red to blue and back to red again in just the last four years.

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 about 800,000 Oklahomans into each of the state's five congressional districts with no margin of error.

"Which means CD5 has to get smaller, and CD2 has to get bigger," says Democrat Minority Leader Senator Kay Floyd. 

Little has been said yet on the maps that determine state house and state senate seats. If the Republicans' timeline stays on schedule this week the state and federal maps should be sent to the Governor on Friday.