By
The Associated Press
Associated Press - This year's narrow political divide stretches all the way from Washington to the statehouses, where three legislative chambers are evenly split and state lawmakers are exploring new ways to share power.
As the year begins, state senates in Arizona and Maine are deadlocked and the House in Washington state is tied - leaving legislators without a traditional leader as they seek to craft policy and spending plans.
"It's sort of uncharted territory," said Richard Bennett, a Maine senator whose fellow Republicans tied up the Senate, 17-17, with one independent. "The appropriate adult thing to do would be to share power."
In Maine, that's just what they did. When the new session began last month, the parties evenly shared committee leadership and agreed to trade off the Senate presidency. Arizona's senators also are sharing power, as are representatives in Washington's state House.
In the nation's capital, President-elect Bush also talks of bipartisanship. The U.S. Senate, split 50-50, has approved unprecedented steps to share resources and give both parties greater say.
This year's elections resulted in a record number of tied legislative chambers - five, though subsequent vacancies in Missouri and a party-switcher in South Carolina reduced the number to three.
Nationwide, the number of states with divided legislatures - where one party controls one chamber while the other is in opponent's hands - grew from 13 to 15.
Following the Nov. 7 election, one-party control of state legislatures was evenly split nationwide, with Democrats holding 17 states and the GOP 17. But when a longtime Democratic state senator in South Carolina switched to the GOP, it broke a tie and gave Republicans control of the Senate and the entire legislature.
Now, Republicans hold a majority for the first time since the 1994 elections. That year's sweep delivered the first GOP majority since the Eisenhower years.
This year's Republican gains promise a stronger GOP hand in congressional redistricting, particularly in Pennsylvania, which lost two seats. Democrats, however, gained or held onto control of chambers in Colorado and Texas, dashing Republican hopes of redrawing districts to their advantage.
Redistricting - the once-a-decade legislative task to conform political districts to new census numbers - always brings out the strongest partisan feelings. But lawmakers in tied chambers hope for a markedly different atmosphere.
"There is a lesson to be learned at the state level and the national level from this election," said Bennett, in Maine. "Voters are looking for conciliation rather than confrontation. The results of this election show a nation that's not deeply divided but is closely divided."
In Arizona, where the Senate is split 15-15, Democrats supported a Republican for Senate president and in return, the committees overseeing education, environment, health, laws and money are split evenly between the two parties.
Washington state, with the House split 49-49 as it was for the last two-year session, will continue its power-sharing agreement, where every leadership position is shared, from co-speakers of the House to co-chairmen of committees.
Not that the agreements always run smoothly.
A feud in Washington state was settled by building new House space so each party got equal square footage - at a cost of $100,000.
And veterans there say the tie makes passing legislation even harder, requiring either middle-of-the-road ideas acceptable to all or the pairing of proposals so that each party walks away happy.
"It's not easy," said Washington state Rep. Hans Dunshee, Democratic co-chair of the committee overseeing environment and transportation. "But it's incumbent on both sides to come up with solutions. We've all got to go home and say we've done something about the problem."
In a reversal, South Carolina scrapped its power-sharing tradition. Unlike nearly all states, which award committee chairmanships to those in the majority party, its Senate traditionally awarded top spots to members by seniority, regardless of party.
Republicans, with a majority for the first time since Reconstruction, abandoned that tradition.
"The time had come," said GOP Sen. David Thomas. "They've had control for over 100 years. Give us a break and let us show you what we can do."
