Ohio Redistricting Commission begins work, sort of
The bipartisan Ohio Redistricting Commission kicked off its work on Tuesday, and predictably, Ohio Democrats are outraged.
The commission, which has until the end of the month to pass a bipartisan congressional map, did not take any public testimony or set a follow-up meeting.
If a map does not receive the requisite votes, it goes back to the legislature. State lawmakers must pass a map by the end of November that abides by the Ohio Constitution’s anti-gerrymandering provisions.
However, because state lawmakers can pass a map with a simple majority, it effectively eliminates any urgency for the bipartisan commission to act.
“We have been tasked by our constituents with trying to find bipartisan agreement and adopt the people’s map,” Ohio House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn, D-Cincinnati, said in prepared testimony. “And Ohioans desperately need us to get this right, because every day we are reminded of the consequences of having unrepresentative districts.
“The General Assembly failed to do that in September and this commission has 10 days to try and meet our constitutional charge,” Isaacsohn added.
In traditional Democratic fashion, Democrats have introduced their own proposed maps, House Bill 442, insisting that their version is “fair.” Democrats can complain all they want, but there doesn’t seem to be much they can do to change the trajectory.
Republicans currently hold 10 of the Buckeye State’s 15 U.S. House seats.
“I think the ball is kind of in the Democrats’ court to decide what deal they are or not willing to take,” Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, co-chair of the redistricting commission, told reporters, per The Statehouse News Bureau. “And we started this process with Democrats coming out and kind of drawing a line in the sand and fundraising off it, saying ‘we will accept nothing less than the five we have now. And actually, we really wouldn’t accept anything less than the seven we’d like to get.’
“We’re not going to just show all of our notes in public while you’re trying to have discussions between legislative leaders about what they wouldn’t support,” Stewart added, per the report.
Some within the party’s ranks previously suggested that Republicans could seek to redistrict and create 12 districts that are favorable to their side. However, Republicans seem to be even more bullish now.
Democrats say a 13-2 Republican advantage is a foregone conclusion if the process returns to the state legislature. Any such map would likely focus on flipping seats held by Democratic U.S. Reps. Greg Landsman, who represents District 1 in the Cincinnati area, Marcy Kaptur, who serves District 9 in the Toledo area, and Emilia Sykes, who represents District 13 in the Akron area.
“I think that clearly the Toledo seat, the Akron seat and the Cincinnati seat are probably the most hotly contested races generally,” Stewart told reporters. “I don’t think I’m giving away any secrets to political reporters. Those are probably the seats that are most discussed when we’re talking about whether there’s going to be a deal.”
