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Two weeks from now, state lawmakers are scheduled to approve a map for Utah's fourth Congressional seat in a special session.
But getting to that point may revive the partisan angst of once-a-decade redistricting.
At Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s urging, legislators Wednesday signed off on a brisk, two-week schedule of map-drawing and public hearings with plans to present the final map in a lame-duck session of the U.S. Congress that begins Dec. 4. Under a plan pushed by members of both parties, the Democrat-dominated District of Columbia would get a voting seat in Congress, balanced by a new seat for Republican-ruled Utah.
In closed caucus meetings, state House and Senate Republicans debated the constitutionality of giving D.C. a vote in Congress. Some rural lawmakers complained about congressional boundaries drawn in 2001 that mix rural neighborhoods in Kanab with Salt Lake City's Avenues. And many held their noses at the prospect of creating a district that may be guaranteed to a Democratic candidate.
But in the end, lawmakers said Utah deserves a fourth congressional seat. And the state's best chances of getting one before 2012, after the next census, rest on the upcoming two-week session of Congress.
"We want to move forward," said House Speaker Greg Curtis. "Utah is entitled to a fourth seat."
Advocates of voting rights for Washington were relieved.
"I couldn't be more pleased that Utah will act so quickly," said non-voting Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C. "They have a deep understanding that this is a one-for-one deal. This is the very definition of a win-win."
A committee of 11 lawmakers - eight Republicans and three Democrats - will begin meeting next week. Public hearings across the state could begin Nov. 27.
House Republicans agreed to start with Huntsman's map, which essentially splits Salt Lake County in two, tacking Salt Lake City, West Valley City, Murray and Holladay on to Summit and Morgan County to form a fourth seat. That seat would lean Democratic.
But Senate Republicans added another option Wednesday: a backup map approved in the last redistricting process five years ago. That map splits Salt Lake County in three, slicing off east-bench Salt Lake City - where Democratic Congressman Jim Matheson lives - and a strip of Davis County and combining those neighborhoods with rural, northeastern counties, including Daggett County and Grand County. Utah County, where Republican Congressman Chris Cannon lives, would dominate that district, with two-thirds of the voters.
Senators say they want the public to consider at least three maps - including whatever option the committee comes up with.
"It's open. We're not pushing any particular map," said Senate President John Valentine.
The map resurrected from 2001 is unlikely to pass the governor's scrutiny. Huntsman has said he will not approve any map that puts two of Utah's congressmen in the same district.
"We've been committed all along to making certain at the end of the day that a fair map is adopted," said Huntsman spokesman Mike Mower.
And Curtis said Wednesday he believes Salt Lake County should be split into no more than two congressional districts. He believes the committee should start with the map drawn by the governor's office and legislative leaders.
House Minority Leader Ralph Becker said Democrats want map-drawing to be fair, which is not always easy. "Redistricting is as ugly a political process as exists," Becker said.
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* THOMAS BURR and GLEN WARCHOL contributed to this story.