And, also in theory, elections to those General Assembly seats are decided in the November of even-numbered years by voters in each legislative district’s general election.
That’s the fantasy. In fact, because of the way Statehouse Republicans drew those General Assembly districts, Republicans voting in Republican primary elections can decide who will go to the Statehouse. And voters in GOP primaries tend to be in the party’s right wing.
Also because of the way Statehouse Republicans drew districts, Democrats voting in Democratic primary elections can decide who will go the Statehouse. And voters in Democratic primaries tend to be in the party’s left wing (or what passes for one in Ohio).
Of course, Republicans made sure there are many more districts that skew Republican than skew Democratic. So, of the Ohio House’s 99 seats, Republicans hold 67, Democrats, 32.
That is, Republicans hold two-thirds of the Ohio House seats — and 79% of the state Senate’s seats — in a state that cast 53% of its vote for Donald Trump in 2020.
And people ask why the General Assembly is so red-hot partisan, and embroiled in social issues, albeit with ruling GOP majorities? Ohio has a General Assembly that is now so busy trying to make nice with Ohio’s Republican right that it ignores Ohioans who are middle-of-the-road.
And before anyone starts citing 20-year Democratic House Speaker Vern Riffe, of Scioto County’s Wheelersburg, and his dexterous mapmakers, keep this is in mind: The last “apportionment” (district-drawing) that Ohio Democrats controlled was 42 years ago, in 1981.
The net result, in effect, of electing General Assembly members in primary elections is to drive candidates to the right (among Republicans) or to Ohio’s left (among Democrats). Party loyalists listen to other party loyalists, not rank- and-file Ohioans.
That’s why some General Assembly Republicans devise such tone-deaf measures as House Joint Resolution 1, to require a supermajority of Ohio voters to amend the Ohio Constitution. GOP goal: To make it harder for Ohioans to place in the state constitution a right for women to choose abortion. Specifically, HJR 1would require a 60% majority to ratify amendments. Now, and since 1912, the requirement has been 50% plus 1.
(If the anti-abortion lobby and allied legislators would think strategically, perhaps they’d twin their opposition to abortion with abolition of Ohio’s death penalty.)
Still, the overarching problem remains politically skewed General Assembly districts. They must be redrawn for 2024′s election, and the gerrymandering that has created such currently lopsided GOP majorities isn’t good for Ohio or (given factional splits in the House GOP caucus) isn’t really good for the GOP itself. Another ballot issue that may be in the offing may seek to reform how Ohio draws its state Senate and House districts. Because about all that the status quo does is, yes, reinforce the status quo — the very last thing Ohio needs.
Correction: Republican Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens’s hometown, Kitts Hill, is in Lawrence County (Ironton). Last week’s column erroneously said Kitts Hill is in Gallia County (Gallipolis).
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