NASHVILLE (AP) - Republican lawmakers don't plan to divide Nashville among several congressional seats as some Democrats had feared, according to plans released Friday.

The redistricting plan, first obtained by The Associated Press, also indicates that the 4th District would be significantly redrawn to extend from Rutherford County on the outskirts of Nashville to Bradley County near Chattanooga.

At least two Republican state lawmakers, Sens. Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro and Jim Tracy of Shelbyville, had said they would consider challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais depending on the new maps. Both live in what would be the new 4th District.

Ketron did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Tracy said he had not yet seen the proposed new district.

"I haven't even had time to think about it," Tracey said in a phone interview. "Right now I'm focusing on running for the state Senate."

DesJarlais defeated longtime Democratic Rep. Lincoln Davis in 2010, but is relatively unknown in political circles in Nashville.

"I haven't had an opportunity to study these proposed new lines closely yet, but regardless of the new district boundaries, I'm committed to continuing to be an independent conservative voice for Tennesseans," DesJarlais said in a statement Friday.

The 4th District currently runs through 24 counties from the Kentucky border over the Cumberland Plateau to the Alabama state line. The new plan would include all or parts of 15 counties and place the northern counties into the 6th District seat currently held by Republican Rep. Dianne Black

Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper urged lawmakers at a hearing this week in Nashville not to break the 5th District into several parts.

Cooper, one of two Democrats in Tennessee's nine-member congressional delegation, represents most of Nashville and parts of Cheatham and Wilson counties. Under the new plan, Cooper would lose Wilson County, and gain heavily Republican areas in the southern part of Nashville, plus more of Cheatham County and all of Dickson County.

"Thank you for keeping Nashville together. The 'Andrew Jackson District' is intact!" Cooper said in a statement. "I regret losing any of my friends in Wilson County but I hope to make new friends in Dickson County and the parts of Cheatham that I do not already represent."

Republican state Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey of Blountville and House Speaker Beth Harwell of Nashville said in a press release that the new districts hew more closely to regional blocks rather than partisan differences.

Three districts would be located entirely in East Tennessee, while two others would be completely in West Tennessee. The four remaining would be anchored in Middle Tennessee.

Only the 1st District in the northeastern section of the state would not see significant changes.