COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Redistricting Commission started its work on redrawing legislative district maps Tuesday.
Last week, the Ohio Supreme Court said the maps previously passed by the commission unfairly favored Republicans. The commission now has until next Monday to draw Ohio House and Senate maps that comply with the constitutional amendment that Ohio voters passed in 2015.
Six of the seven members who served on the first Ohio Redistricting Commission are back: Gov. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio; Secretary of State Frank LaRose, R-Ohio; Auditor Keith Faber, R-Ohio; Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima; Ohio House Speaker Robert Cupp, R-Lima; and Ohio Sen. Vernon Sykes, D-Akron.
“There were several individuals on the commission who didn’t like the process and weren’t crazy about the maps, and so it’s my hope that we see the commissioners work across the aisle and create maps that really make sense for Ohio voters,” said Jen Miller, director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio.
The only newcomer is newly-elected Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, who replaces former Minority Leader Emilia Sykes, D-Akron.
The premise is the same: If both Democrats agree with at least two Republicans, the commission can pass 10-year maps. If not, the maps will be in place for four years. Neither of the Democrats on the previous commission voted for the maps.
Baldwin Wallace University political science professor Thomas Sutton said in order to comply with the Ohio Supreme Court’s ruling, the Ohio Redistricting Commission must find a way to dissolve the Republican veto-proof supermajority at the Statehouse.
“What Republicans need to do and voters need to be looking for are changing these maps to match more closely the voter numbers that are roughly 54% Republican (and) 46% Democrat — and that’s turnout, not registration,” Sutton said.
That is the breakdown of how Ohioans have voted the last 10 years. Currently though, Republicans control 64 of the 99 seats in the Ohio House of Representatives and 25 of the 33 seats in the Ohio Senate.
“You’ve got to change about 12% of those districts into more competitive to match those numbers. So it’ll be really interesting because they haven’t talked to each other at all,” said Sutton.
The Commission has less than a week left to redraw the maps and get them approved by the Ohio Supreme Court before we know who can run this year in elections statewide.
As of now, the filing deadline for candidates is Feb. 2 and the primary is May 3.
