New Ohio Congressional Redistricting Map Introduced to Criticism, But May Have Support to Pass – Cleveland Scene

A new map was introduced Thursday at the second meeting of the Ohio Redistricting Commission, one that leaders say was a compromise between the Democrats and Republicans on the commission.

A vote could happen at the meeting scheduled for Friday morning, though commission members did not indicate whether or not they had a unanimous vote as of Thursday.

“This is the process working,” said State Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, also the co-chair of the commission.

“There are pros and cons to all different aspects of this process, but I think those legislators did what the constitution envisions, which is accept those pros and cons and come to an agreement.”

The newest map would create a state with 12 Republican-leaning districts and three Democratic-leaning districts, increasing the Republican districts in the state from the current 10-5 map.

The commission has until Oct. 31 to approve a bipartisan map, or the process goes back to the Ohio General Assembly.

The districts that would change most significantly under the new map would be those of Democratic congress members, including U.S. Reps. Marcy Kaptur, Greg Landsman and Emilia Sykes.

Landsman’s 1st district would lean Republican with a 54% to 47% breakdown. Kaptur’s 9th district would lean Republican with a 54.5% to 45.5% Republican to Democrat ratio.

Sykes’ 13th district would lean Democratic, 52% to 48% Republican, according to data provided by the commission.

The biggest gap is in the 4th district, held by Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, which breaks down to 72% Republican and 29% Democratic. The Democrats see a 78% advantage in the 11th district, held currently by Democratic U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown.

Minority Leader Nickie Antonio led most of the meeting, which was punctuated by complaints from the crowd and one person who was escorted out by security.

Antonio would not say which way she was planning to vote on the map, but emphasized the flaws in the redistricting system.

“We have a broken system of redistricting, I think that bears out in the testimony we heard today as well,” Antonio said after the meeting. “It was not what the voters expected when in 2018 we voted to end gerrymandering.”

Antonio said the process is down to the “11th hour” in that system.

“This system that we have, in the long-run, is probably going to be need to be fixed again, but today, we have to look at the best way to go forward with our congressional maps because we are required to do that,” she said.

Gov. Mike DeWine told reporters Thursday that he supported the map as presented, noting he got a look at the map early Wednesday. He said it was a welcome compromise between the two sides.

“The goal here was to get maps and get Democrats on board with the map, it would appear that that’s going to happen,” DeWine said.

DeWine didn’t attend Thursday’s meeting, but met with reporters in the hallway as the meeting went on to discuss action on SNAP funding and redistricting.

“What Republicans will get out of this is a sure map, that will be done, both sides get that,” DeWine said. “These are all negotiations and in negotiations no one gets what they want.”

The commission has now met twice since reconvening last week, with the first meeting covering consideration for the legislative Democrats’ map proposal. That proposal would have split the state into eight Republican-leaning districts and seven Democratic-leaning districts. The Democrats said this map was based on voting trends for the last 10 years in the state.

Republicans on both the Joint Committee on Congressional Redistricting, which met in September, and the commission dismissed the map as an unfair gerrymander, and questioned the use of the election results as a measure for what the partisan breakdown of the state should be.

Stewart presented the newest map to the commission on Thursday, saying the proposal “complies with ‘one person, one vote,’” as 13 districts have the same population, and the other two districts are only off by one individual in each district.

Members of the public who came to speak at the commission hearing on Thursday continued a familiar complaint throughout the renewed redistricting process, shaming Republicans for not showing up with a map earlier than October, and further decrying the process as a closed-door, unaccountable method of redrawing the districts that establish the members of Congress who will represent Ohioans on Capitol Hill.

Some shed tears, expressing anger and frustration and calling the process “just one big sham.”

“We are gathered here again, with less than 48 hours before this commission is expected to have produced something more than political theater,” said Dayton resident Zachary Gibbs. “And yet, the drama continues.”

Even self-identified Republican Paul Miller, who has spent his testimony in previous redistricting hearings over the years highly criticizing Democrats, had notes about the map.

“In the past we’ve had the ‘snake on the lake,’ and you’ve turned it into an elephant,” Miller said. “…The map is crap, that’s all.”

Jen Miller of the League of Women Voters of Ohio said the actions of the commission make clear “the politicians on the Ohio Redistricting Commission don’t care about voters or good government.”

“The public was shut out, the process rigged and incumbents favored,” Miller said in a statement. “The resulting congressional map still doesn’t reflect the will of the voters of Ohio.”

Stewart had previously said he saw no point in bringing forth a map without assurances that it would have bipartisan support, which is why the Republicans hadn’t released a map until now.

The Thursday meeting announcement came almost exactly 24 hours before the meeting was to be held, and the GOP map wasn’t released to the public until Thursday’s hearing.

Another meeting is scheduled for Friday morning, the same day as the deadline the state constitution gives the commission to adopt a bipartisan map.

Maps can be challenged through the Ohio Supreme Court after they’re passed, and there is talk of a possible referendum to once again challenge the redistricting process in the state. If a map is passed by the commission, a referendum can’t be attempted.

If no agreement comes from the commission, the map comes back to the Ohio General Assembly, where the Republican supermajority would have an easier time passing a map because it’s only required to obtain a simple majority.

But passage by the General Assembly would open up the map for potential referendum, to keep the current map in place for now.

Originally published by the Ohio Capital Journal. Republished here with permission.

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