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Friday, February 1, 2008
Wolpert proposes new redistricting plan
The campaign to take “politics” out of the business of drawing state legislative and congressional districts goes on.
State Rep. Larry Wolpert, R-Hilliard, is taking up the cause this time.
Wolpert said he’ll introduce a resolution - which would have to be approved by the House and Senate - to put a constitutional amendment on the November ballot.
The plan would create a seven-member redistricting commission to draw state legislative and congressional districts in the year after each census, emphasizing fairness. It would add competitiveness as a factor in drawing the districts, a concept not addressed in the Ohio Constitution now, Wolpert said in a press release.
The four Democratic and Republican legislative leaders in the Ohio House and Senate each would pick one member of the commission and the remaining three members would be picked by a unanimous vote of the first four.
The legislature now draws the congressional districts and the Apportionment Board draws the state legislative districts. The board includes: the governor, secretary of state, auditor and a legislator from each party.
If things stay the way they are now, Republicans, who control the legislature, would have the upper hand in drawing congressional districtcs after the 2010 census.
Democrats would have the upper hand in drawing legislative districts because they would hold three of the five seats on the Apportionment Board - governor, secretary of state and one legislator.
Brunner behind on fund-raising
Brunner behind on fund-raising
If Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner held a party for her big campaign contributors — the ones who shelled $5,000 or more last year — the room would be filled with plumbers and pipefitters. That’s it.
The Ohio State Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters political action committee donated $5,000 to Brunner’s campaign last year. That was Brunner’s single biggest campaign contribution. No one else gave more than $2,500.
Last year, Brunner raised only $40,483 in fresh campaign money — the lowest amount among the five statewide elected officials, according to reports filed Thursday.
Sure, 2007 was a non-election year but Brunner, an elections lawyer and a Democrat, will have to ramp up fund-raising in a serious way. The Ohio Republican Party is sure to target her seat in the 2010 elections. The Secretary of State sits on the five-member Apportionment Board, which draws legislative district maps after the 2010 census. Whichever party controls the apportionment board gets to draw the maps to their advantage, ensuring favorable legislative districts for the following 10 years.
Two presidential debates set for ohio
Kevin DeWine, the Fairborn Republican who’s deputy chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, says he’s excited. So is Chris Redfern, state Democratic chairman.
CNN is cooperating with the Ohio Republican Party and Ohio Democratic Party to hold back-to-back presidential debates in Ohio on Feb. 27 (the Democrats) and Feb. 28 (the Republicans), just days before Ohio’s March 4 presidential primary, they said.
“I’m pretty excited that CNN wants to come in and work directly with both parties. I think it shows just how important Ohio is in the general election and how important Ohio will be in picking the nominees for both parties,” said DeWine, a state representative.
“It’s great to have them here in Ohio. It’s going to generate a great deal of interest,” said Redfern, a state representative from Catawba Island.
No final decision has been made on location but both debates will be held in the same city and Cleveland and Columbus are the most likely sites, said DeWine and Redfern. They’re best suited to handle the crowd of reporters, satellite trucks and everything else that comes with a debate, they said.
DeWine said CNN approached the Republicans last week after Ohio Republicans had approached Fox to talk about a debate. The debate will be in the evening, he said.
The announcement comes just before next Tuesday - “Super Tuesday” - with primaries and caucuses for both Republicans and Democrats in more than 20 states. With contested races on both sides, it’s more and more likely that the winners won’t be decided until the primary campaign gets to Ohio.
The Democratic race has become a two-person battle between Sen. Hilllary Clinton of New York and Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois. On the Republican side, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are the clear frontrunners but former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas remain in the GOP race.
