COLUMBUS, Ohio — The filing deadline for statewide candidates to sign up for this year’s primary has come and gone. The clock ran out without a decision from the Ohio Supreme Court about the fate of the legislative district maps.
So what happens now?
“I don’t think this is a situation that anyone envisioned,” said Spectrum News 1 legal analyst Rory Riley-Topping.
Typically, candidates running for office know which constituents they will serve. But that is not the case this year in Ohio.
“I think we are most certainly going to see legal challenges from probably potential candidates as well as citizens who want to know what these districts looks like,” said Riley-Topping.
The Ohio Redistricting Commission drew legislative maps twice, but both were sent to court. The Ohio Supreme Court shot down the first pair. It is unclear what the justices will do with the second batch.
“They’re not going to know who they’re voting for or which representative who’s running is potentially going to represent them. So again, we’re really in uncharted territory,” Riley-Topping said.
Last week, Gov. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, signed a bill, House Bill 93, allowing signatures candidates have collected for their nominating petitions to count as long as those that signed them are from a county in the candidate’s new district. But Republican lawmakers refused to move the filing deadline for statewide candidates because they feel the court could and should uphold the maps.
“I think we’ve done what the court asked us to do. So we’ll see what they say,” Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said last week when asked if he was confident the maps will be approved.
Riley-Topping said we have reached an unforeseen circumstance despite several safeguards being in place to prevent this from happening. So there is no definitive answer to the question of what happens next.
