Running for chief justice of the Supreme Court are Democratic Justice Jennifer Brunner and Republican Justice Sharon Kennedy.
There are two other Supreme Court seats on this year’s ballot; both incumbents are seeking re-election. One incumbent is Republican Justice R. Patrick (Pat) DeWine, son of Gov. Mike DeWine. Challenging Justice DeWine’s re-election is Democratic Judge Marilyn Zayas, of the Cincinnati-based Ohio Court of Appeals (1st District)
The other Supreme Court incumbent seeking re-election is Republican Justice Patrick Fischer. Challenging Justice Fischer’s re-election is Democratic Judge Terri Jamison, of the Columbus-based Ohio Court of Appeals (10th District).
In a series of rulings overthrowing Republican-rigged General Assembly districts – moves checkmated by a GOP end-run to federal court – Brunner and the court’s two other Democrats, plus lame-duck Republican Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, tried to block GOP gerrymanders. Kennedy, Fischer and Pat DeWine voted to leave the rigged maps in place.
At this writing, it’s more than just likely that Ohioans will re-elect the Republican statewide executive officers, from Mike DeWine on down.
Meanwhile, it’s a slam-dunk, that thanks to Republican-rigged General Assembly districts, voters will leave Republicans in charge of the state Senate and Ohio House of Representatives. And the skewed maps will likely hand the GOP a couple more seats.
The 33-seat Senate now has 25 Republicans, the 99-seat House, 64. A net Republican pick-up of two House seats, to 66, would give the House GOP power to slide an emergency clause into controversial laws to shield them from a statewide up-or-down (“referendum”) vote. (Senate Republicans already have the necessary 22 votes for that.)
What’s more, the Republican leaders of the state Senate and Ohio House have signaled their support for some legal codswallop called “the independent state legislature theory” to help rig presidential and congressional elections. The U.S. Supreme Court is considering the issue.
The independent state legislature theory would let the General Assembly and other states’ legislatures gerrymander congressional districts any way they chose – and play games with a state’s electoral votes. The independent state legislature theory is that, “under the Constitution, only [a] legislature has the power to regulate federal elections, without interference from state courts,” according to Amy Howe, of SCOTUSblog. The appeal originated in a North Carolina districting case.
True, rigged congressional districts have already been imposed on Ohio – except the Ohio Supreme Court still has power to intervene. The “independent legislature theory” could end that.
In July, Ohio’ high court ruled 4-3 that Ohio’s Republican-drawn congressional districts, used in the state’s first 2022 primary, held on May 3, are unconstitutional. The same congressional districts are being used for Nov. 8′s general election.
Still, Ohioans are electing General Assembly and U.S. House members using unconstitutional districts (a) because two federal judges ordered Ohio to use, this year only, legislative districts ruled unconstitutional by Ohio’s Supreme Court and (b) because legal maneuvering crowbarred onto Ohio’s 2022 ballot unconstitutional congressional districts.
This is what happens when Ohio legislators design their own hammocks – unless that is, Ohioans elect a Supreme Court that’ll say “no.”
Thomas Suddes is a former legislative reporter with The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and writes from Ohio University. You can reach him at tsuddes@gmail.com.
About the Author