I-49 legislators all want in 3rd district

The four largest counties in the 3rd Congressional District want to be completely in that district when boundaries are redrawn this fall, according to state legislators from those counties -- Benton, Washington, Crawford and Sebastian.

Using 2020 census figures, doing so would leave little room for any other counties to stay or join.

"There were five counties split in the last redistricting. Four of them are in the 3rd Congressional District," said Rep. Jim Dotson, R-Bentonville. The 3rd District includes Northwest Arkansas.

Crawford, Sebastian and Newton counties were split between the 3rd and south Arkansas' 4th districts after the 2010 census. Searcy County was split between the 3rd and east Arkansas' 1st District. Benton, Boone, Carroll, Marion, Pope and Washington counties were kept entirely in the 3rd District.

Redistricting in the Northwest this go-around has limited options, said Rep. David Whitaker, D-Fayetteville. He called the core of the district the "I-49 corridor." The "corridor" counties are Benton, Crawford, Sebastian and Washington. Those counties have strong commercial ties and similar interests as urban centers, Whitaker said.

Other nearby counties are more rural, he said.

Rep. Gayla McKenzie, R-Gravette, represents a largely rural area of Benton County. She understands that the larger cities in the 3rd District have shared interests, but her constituents have interests to be represented, too.

"Since we are located in the northwest corner of the 3rd District, not one proposed map makes any changes to areas near us," McKenzie said. "However, some constituents have expressed a desire to see rural areas represented well in the 3rd so that their voice isn't diluted with the larger cities."

Lawmakers are to begin meeting Wednesday to draw new boundaries for the state's four congressional districts. Committee hearings on proposals began last Monday.

The Legislature redraws the maps for U.S. House districts every 10 years after each U.S. census. Each of Arkansas' four congressional districts needs to be as close to 753,439 people as possible to ensure equal representation as required under federal law.

The 3rd District's current boundaries contain 839,147 residents, according to the just-completed 2020 census. The district must lose 85,708 people -- 11.4% of its current population -- to hit that target.

The four I-49 corridor counties total 718,136 people, leaving room for about 35,303 more.

"Constituents who have contacted me have expressed a desire to keep Van Buren and Fort Smith in the 3rd District," said Rep. Charlene Fite, R-Van Buren. "They have strongly expressed a hope that no small cities will be split down the middle as happened to Alma in the last round with part in the 3rd and part in the 4th."

Alma, the Crawford County town of 5,825 people, falls in the 3rd District on the west side of U.S. 71 and in the 4th District on the east.

The desire to rejoin is more of a state political priority than a local one, Alma Mayor Jerry Martin said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

"I have two people I can go to when the city needs something," Martin said of 3rd District Rep. Steve Womack and 4th District Rep. Bruce Westerman. "We never have been neglected."

"Now, if one party represented one district and the other party represented the other, that might make more people want to be in one district or the other," Martin said. "Partisan preference might rear its head."

Sebastian County had four small towns split away from the 3rd District after the 2010 census.

"I'm getting two messages from my county and city officials: We want to be in the 3rd District, and we don't want to be split," said Sen. Mathew Pitsch, R-Fort Smith.

"We've done our time" at having communities with shared interests put into different districts, he said. This time there is no need to split counties or towns, Pitsch said. Rep. Nelda Speaks, R-Mountain Home, proved it in her proposal for redistricting.

In her bill, no county or towns in the state would be split, and each district would closely hit the target population. The 3rd District would include Sebastian, Crawford, Washington, Benton and Carroll counties. Carroll County, which is in the 3rd District, has 28,260 residents, according to the census. Speaks' proof that a whole-county map can work will make it harder to argue for any splits, Pitsch said.

Whitaker said legislators in the state's Northwest are hearing from Madison County residents, who were moved into the 4th District in 2011.

"I get more texts and emails from Madison County than anywhere else wanting to come back into the 3rd," Whitaker said. Madison and Washington counties have close economic, family and even court ties, he said. The two are in the same judicial district.

Whitaker drew a map that includes Madison County in the 3rd District and shopped it around to constituents. Their immediate response was "why isn't Carroll County in there?" he said. Carroll County's economic and family ties to Benton and Washington counties are like Madison's, Whitaker said.

Pitsch said he understands Madison County's desire to return to the 3rd District, "but by the time you add Benton, Washington, Crawford, Sebastian and Carroll counties together, you have 746,000 with a target of 753,000," Pitsch said.

Madison County has 16,521 residents, according to the 2020 census.

Northwest Arkansas is the fastest-growing region in the state. Setting boundaries for the next 10 years that start out by overstuffing the fastest-growing district would make no sense even if the plan passed legal muster, Pitsch said.

After the 2010 census, lawmakers tried to split Washington County. Democrats held a majority in the Legislature then. South Arkansas' 4th District was the only U.S. House district left in Arkansas with a Democratic incumbent.

Democratic legislators sought to shore up their party's margin in the 4th District by moving Fayetteville -- a more liberal, university town -- out of the heavily Republican 3rd District and into the 4th District.

Giving the declining population in the 4th District a boost by adding part of growing Northwest Arkansas also figured into the plan, supporters said. Democratic margins in other districts were a consideration, too. Three of the 4th District's heavily Democratic, but less populous, counties went into east Arkansas' 1st District.

The plan passed in the state House, but failed in the Senate. Legislators hammered out a compromise in the closing days of the 2011 legislative session. Parts of Sebastian County went into the 4th District, but Fort Smith remained in the 3rd. Fort Smith is the county seat, by far the largest city in its region and one of the largest cities in the state.

Half of Crawford County was put in the 4th District, including half of Alma. Heavily Republican Russellville and all the rest of Pope County stayed in the 3rd District. Keeping Pope County and Fayetteville in the 3rd District led to cutting Newton County in half so the district could reach Russellville. Also, a corner of Searcy County went into the 3rd District while the rest stayed in the 1st District.

The state is far less divided by party now than it was 10 years ago. Republicans hold all four of Arkansas' U.S. House seats. The state Legislature that will draw the lines also is heavily Republican. No Democrat has gotten closer than 45% of the vote in any U.S. House race in Arkansas in 2020. U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford of east Arkansas' 1st District ran unopposed.

Some communities worry more about splits than others, said Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs. His Senate district lies deep within Benton County.

"I have had almost no constituent feedback on what the 3rd District should look like," Hester said. "I think people in Benton County know they will stay in the 3rd District, and the district will be smaller overall. I agree with that line of thinking."