COLUMBUS — Voting rights groups say the legislative maps the Ohio Redistricting Commission passed Thursday night have similar problems to previously adopted plans.
Four of the five Republicans on the Ohio Redistricting Commission: Gov. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, Secretary of State Frank LaRose, R-Ohio, Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, and House Speaker Robert Cupp, R-Lima, voted in favor of Ohio House and Senate maps they say favor the GOP in 54 House districts and 18 Senate districts. That lines up with how Ohioans have voted the last 10 years.
“After months of trying and retrying and trying again, and after several court decisions refining the meaning of the terms of the Constitution, the target partisan proportionality as determined by the court has been achieved in this proposed map,” Cupp said Thursday.
Democrats disagreed Thursday as did Common Cause Ohio’s Catherine Turcer on Friday.
“When we look at these maps, they seem to be fairly evenly balanced. But on a closer examination, it’s, you know, kind of déjà vu all over again,” said Turcer.
Turcer and Democrats say all of the districts that are labeled Democratic are toss ups while none of the Republicans will have competitive races. Ohio Auditor Keith Faber, R-Ohio, also voted against the maps but because he felt they were gerrymandered to unfairly favored Democrats. Turcer said that is not entirely true.
“What the auditor was getting at is that we should have districts that keep communities together. And I want to be super clear that you can actually put a value on keeping communities together and get to proportionality. It is possible,” Turcer said.
Then there is the process of how the maps were made. Republicans had their mapmakers draw the maps. Then, Republicans showed them to all its commissioners before sharing it with Democrats and eventually the public just hours before the vote. The Ohio Supreme Court said that was not allowed.
“When you start with a process where we don’t have the opportunity to really take a deep dive before they very quickly pass them, we all have to be a little bit suspicious,” said Turcer.
The maps were passed exactly one week after Republican commissioners said it could not be done, choosing not to adopt maps to meet the Ohio Supreme Court’s deadline. We will see what the justices think that when all seven commissioners appear in front of them next Tuesday as the commissioners try to explain why they should not be held in contempt of court.
