This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

CORRECTION: Quotes from state representatives David Litvack and Roz Magee in a redistricting story Friday came from a roundtable discussion broadcast on KUER public radio.

Within hours of a legislative panel's approval of a map carving a possible fourth congressional district into Utah, at least two renegade plans surfaced, threatening to make next week's special session a long and contentious day.

But most legislative leaders Thursday said the belated redistricting maps have little chance of passage in the special session that Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has called for Monday.

The frontrunner remains Plan L, which the Redistricting Committee overwhelmingly approved Wednesday. It represents a compromise crafted by leading GOP and Democratic lawmakers that would create an overwhelmingly urban 2nd District by encompassing northern Salt Lake County and Park City.

Of the options emerging without committee endorsement, so far only Plan M has appeared on the Legislature's Web site. The author, Rep. Ben Ferry, R-Corinne, says he drew the map because urban Plan L - supported by every committee member except Ferry - cut rural voters out of the 2nd District.

"Having a rural component in every district is very important," said Ferry, a Box Elder County stockman. "You try to have comprehensive seats . . . so representatives are aware of rural concerns."

Despite pulling Morgan County rural voters into the 2nd District, Ferry's map would keep Park City and Snyderville Basin and northern Salt Lake County together, something Democratic Park City residents requested.

Sen. Mike Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, has said he also will propose another map at the special session because Plan L divides Taylorsville.

"We are open to any proposals," said Sen. Curt Bramble, a chairman of the 11-person Redistricting Committee. "But when you have a 10-1 vote coming out of committee - that is sending a pretty strong message."

Speaker Greg Curtis agrees most lawmakers are going to look to the committee, which labored over computer-generated maps, for guidance. "[Ferry] is going to have an uphill battle," Curtis said. "He's going to have to convince members of the committee why his map is better than the one they adopted."

Committee member Rep. David Litvack, D-Salt Lake City, said the committee's final map, unlike Ferry's offering, resulted from intense bipartisan discussions that took place during a six-public-meeting tour of the state, in which Ferry did not participate.

Keeping politics out of the redistricting process became a sensitive issue for the committee. "It would no longer be bipartisan. I wouldn't vote for it."

Ferry said he could not make most of the meetings because of his ranching responsibilities.

Rep. Roz McGee, D-Salt Lake City, put into words what many lawmakers fear for the special session: "There's a lot of wrangling yet to be done."

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* REBECCA WALSH contributed to this story.