In contrast, the calling-hours consensus on Voinovich and LaTourette is that they aimed to work with others in Washington, regardless of party, to benefit Ohio and Ohioans. That was constructive. It is also unusual, which is why LaTourette and Voinovich earned praise from their Ohio constituents.
Agreed, for a U.S. senator, elected statewide in a state closely divided politically, maybe cross-aisle work isn’t a total surprise, despite the demagoguery of, say, a Mitch McConnell. But bipartisan dealings can be a surprise in the House, where members of both parties are practically guaranteed re-nomination and re-election.
Consider Ohio’s 16 politically tilted congressional districts. Ohio voters have twice given the state’s electoral votes to Barack Obama. Most recently, in 2012, Obama drew 50.7 percent of Ohio’s popular vote. That is, in 2012, Ohio was 50-50 presidentially. Still, of the state’s 16 U.S. House seats, Republicans hold 12 – three-quarters of Ohio’s House delegation – while Democrats hold only the remaining four.
That’s no accident. That’s the result of orders Ohio’s Republican-run General Assembly got (and followed) from then-U.S. House Speaker John A. Boehner, a suburban Cincinnati Republican. And it’s not just that the legislature lassoed Republican Ohio voters into GOP-leaning districts; the legislature also crammed Ohio Democratic voters into four districts to minimize the number of Democrats Ohio could send to the U.S. House. Two of those four Democratic districts are represented by black Democrats; in effect, they benefit, ironically, from a GOP-drawn map that shortchanges other Democrats. If you think that’s a GOP oversight, tell Santa all about it when he lands in your fireplace on Dec. 25.
The results are clear, thanks to data compiled by the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association in its 2016 Ohio Election Guide. The four Ohio congressional districts held by Democrats supported Obama’s re-election in 2012 by huge margins. The president drew 82 percent of the vote in the 11th District of Warrensville Heights Democrat Marcia Fudge; 69 percent in suburban Columbus Democrat Joyce Beatty’s 3rd District; 67 percent in Toledoan Marcy Kaptur’s 9th District, which stretches into Greater Cleveland; and 62 percent in the 13th (Youngstown-Warren) district of Tim Ryan, which also reaches into Greater Cleveland. Fudge and Beatty are members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Conversely, 2012’s GOP presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, carried all of Ohio’s 12 remaining congressional districts, which, complete coincidence, Ohio Republicans represent. His best showing against Obama – 61 percent of the vote – was in the 8th District (Cincinnati and Dayton suburbs) formerly represented by Boehner, now represented by Troy Republican Warren Davidson. The only Republican-represented Ohio district Romney carried by less than 50 percent was the 10th (Dayton) District of Republican Mike Turner. Romney drew 49.8 percent of its vote to Obama’s 47.9 percent; still, Romney prevailed. And Turner won re-election with 65.2 percent of the district’s vote.
True, presidential nominee Donald Trump’s defeat could imperil the re-election of some Republicans in the U.S. House. But don’t count on it. In congressional politicking, geography is destiny. And Ohio’s geographers, General Assembly’s Republicans, have no more interest in changing the map than congressional incumbents likely do: After all, it got them where they are.
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