That map didn’t get Democratic support, so now the state is mandated by the Ohio Constitution to update its legislative boundaries four years later. The Democrats’ first proposal in this negotiation would split Ohio’s 15 allotted congressional districts into seven districts that lean Democrat and eight that lean Republican.
Democrats contend that a seven-to-eight split is more reflective of the state’s overall political preferences over the past 10 years. Today, Democrats hold 33% of the state’s 15 seats in the House of Representatives; their proposal, if approved, would give them an advantage in roughly 47% of the districts.
Credit: Provided
Credit: Provided
Extra pressure has been placed on Ohio’s mid-decade, pre-2026 midterm redistricting process due to a summer saga that began with threats of GOP gerrymandering in Texas, sparking threats of Democratic gerrymandering in California, and snowballing through a variety of red and blue states alike, each trying to counter the other’s efforts.
In Ohio, this jockeying among lawmakers is likely to continue throughout the month. Under the Ohio Constitution’s voter-approved redistricting protocol, a new congressional plan can only be passed with bipartisan support at this stage.
“If Republicans are committed to bipartisanship, they’ll allow our fair, constitutional map to move forward for a floor vote by the end of the month. Or, they’ll introduce their own fair, constitutional plan,” Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, said in a Tuesday press conference.
Ohio Republicans, which control the state’s redistricting process, are now at bat.
“We are still very early in the process,” said Ohio Senate GOP spokesperson John Fortney.
If the legislature — which is controlled by a Republican supermajority — fails to produce a bipartisan map by Sept. 30, the responsibility gets kicked to the Ohio Redistricting Commission (ORC), a Republican-dominated, seven-member board that includes state executives and lawmakers tapped by Republican and Democratic leadership.
The ORC then has until Oct. 31 to pass a bipartisan map. If it fails, the responsibility gets kicked back to lawmakers, who would have until Nov. 30 to pass a final map. In the final stage, Republicans have the power to pass a map along partisan lines, but the map would be open to scrutiny from the Ohio Supreme Court, which could deem the plan unconstitutional if the map was seen to “unduly” favor one political party over the other.
The last time around, a 4-to-3 ruling from the Ohio Supreme Court found that the state’s current congressional map did unduly favor Republicans. But the ruling was later vacated after an election changed the makeup of the court.
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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
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