Governor Kevin Stitt has set November 15th as the date for legislators to begin a special session to complete their work on apportioning Oklahoma's legislative and Congressional districts. Due to unexpected figures from the U.S. Census Bureau each district is likely to be affected.
Transcript (recorded September 24, 2021)
Dick Pryor: This is Capitol Insider, your weekly look inside Oklahoma politics, policy and government. I'm Dick Pryor with eCapitol news director Shawn Ashley. And our guest is State Representative Ryan Martinez, Republican from Edmond, who is chair of the House Redistricting Committee. Welcome back to Capitol Insider.
Rep. Ryan Martinez: Thank you for having me. I'm always excited to come visit with you and I'm honored to be here.
Dick Pryor: When we last talked to you in December, you were expecting Census Bureau data by April. It did not come until August. So, you had to apportion state legislative districts last spring using estimates. Based on actual census figures how far off were you?
Rep. Ryan Martinez: That was one of the interesting challenges that we've had for the first time in history. The federal law requires the Census Bureau to get all data to the states by April 15th. As stated, that did not happen and it was more like August 15th. That created some issues, as our Constitution is very specific about when we should do our redistricting. So, we had to use ACS estimates. That's the American Community Survey. So, we use those estimates to pass the first initial map. Now, there was a caveat in that first bill that we passed that once we got census data, we would come back and make adjustments if needed. The overall state population, we really weren't that far off. Where we did run into some issues is where that population was actually located within the state, according to the actual census numbers. There was this massive shift from rural to urban and suburban populations. That shift was even more dramatic than we had anticipated. Overall state population - pretty close to the same. But let me give you an example. Congressional District 2, which covers most of eastern Oklahoma, we had anticipated it needing to grow and gained thirty-five thousand people. With the census data coming back, it's looking more like seventy thousand. So that'll just kind of give you an idea.
Shawn Ashley: Those numbers impact those legislative districts that you approved in the spring. How many legislative districts are you going to have to adjust?
Rep. Ryan Martinez: Yeah, that's a great question. I wish I could tell you that it was going to be five or six. But as you know, this is, it's a one hundred- and one-piece puzzle. So, if you start adjusting a few here and there, it affects everybody. Every district will probably be adjusted to some degree. Most will be very minor. The ones that you'll see that look a little bit different will be kind of what I call border region House districts that are on the border between rural and urban or suburban area. And those will change, obviously leaning more into the urban and suburban area just because that's where the growth has happened in the state. In those original
Shawn Ashley: In those original districts, we saw some seats move. Will the new numbers force additional seats to move?
Rep. Ryan Martinez: No. So, we have one seat move kinda from the, what I would say generally the Tulsa area, moved to eastern Oklahoma County. That will remain the same and there will not be any additional seats moving. However, what you will see is more of a shift from those seats that were once rural, that were kind of in a border area becoming more suburban or urban. So, instead of picking up a seat and moving in entirely, we're able to pick up that extra urban and suburban population with some of those seats that traditionally had been rural throughout history.
Dick Pryor: You mentioned the numbers that will address the Congressional redistricting. What's the process for redrawing those districts?
Rep. Ryan Martinez: For the first time in state history, we have done something that is kind of unprecedented and some people kind of looked at us like we're crazy when we brought up the idea. We hosted town hall meetings all across the state. We did this for legislative districts and for Congressional districts. So, we have concluded the Congressional district town hall meetings, those we did, one in every single Congressional district. We have very good turnout overall between legislative and Congressional town hall meetings we've done 30 and some of those are online some were in person. So that process again, but we are also, much like we did with legislative districts, going to be allowing for public map submissions. So that process is open. We've already received a couple maps on our website, and I encourage anyone listening who has some ideas for Congressional redistricting please, please give us that feedback. We really want to remind people that these are the people's districts and they have the say in what they look like. That's going to be the process. We will obviously be back in the legislature for a special session. So, after we get through that process with the final community input we will be voting just like any other bill to get that bill through the legislature and to be signed by the governor.
Shawn Ashley: Where should the public go in order to submit their maps and to see that process?
Rep. Ryan Martinez: If you go to okhouse.gov, there is a redistricting tab on there. Open that up and you will see everything that I have access to and see you will as well. I encourage you to get involved. We will be hosting an in-person meeting. If you did submit a map or if you choose to submit a map, you will get a chance to come before the redistricting committee and talk about why your map makes the most sense, and we'd love to have you participate in that. That can all be signed up for at okhouse.gov.
Dick Pryor: When will the special legislative session be held?
Rep. Ryan Martinez: That is still kind of being worked out. It's looking like it's going to be November, probably the first or second week in November. And as you know, special session will be called by the governor and the governor will get to set the agenda for that. But it looks like it'll be first or second week in November. (NOTE: On September 24, following the recording of this Capitol Insider segment, Governor Kevin Stitt set November 15 as the date for the special session to begin.)
Dick Pryor: State Representative Ryan Martinez, thanks for joining us on Capitol Insider.
Rep. Ryan Martinez: I'm honored. Thank you so much for all your hard work. And please do not hesitate to reach out to my office personally or on the okhouse.gov website. We'd love to get you engaged in the process.
Dick Pryor: Thanks again.
Rep. Ryan Martinez: Thank you.
