Ohio Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio and Ohio House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn speak to the media after the Ohio Redistricting Commission unanimously passed congressional redistricting that further favors Republicans. (Photo: Susan Tebben, Ohio Capital Journal)
The Ohio Redistricting Commission unanimously approved the congressional map at its Friday morning meeting, increasing the Republican advantage in the state 12-3 and blocking the referendum. Democrats expressed optimism that they would be able to retain five seats.
The committee unanimously approved the map, to the raucous disapproval of the crowd gathered in the Ohio House of Representatives finance hearing room.
The map was presented at Thursday’s meeting by committee co-chairman and state Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville.
Republicans currently hold 10 of Ohio’s 15 congressional districts.
The map gives Republicans an edge in 12 of the state’s 15 districts, with Republican U.S. Jim Jordan’s 4th District seeing the largest GOP advantage of 72%.
According to the map, Democratic U.S. Democratic Party Shontel Brown has the largest lead for her party at 78%.
U.S. Reps. Marcy Kaptur, Greg Landsman and Emilia Sykes would see a significant impact in their district.
Landsman’s 1st district would lean Republican, with a vote split of 54% to 47%.
Kaptur’s ninth district would lean Republican, where the Republican-to-Democrat ratio is 54.5% to 45.5%.
According to data provided by the committee, Sykes’ 13th District would be overwhelmingly Democratic, 52% to 48% Republican.
Stewart said the bipartisan passage was a sign of success for the redistricting reforms passed in 2015 and 2018, as well as for the commission itself.
“I think there was a very real incentive and desire among legislative leaders … that we wanted this process that voters approved to work,” Stewart said.
“I think our intention is to reach some compromises, to recognize the fact that we would like to come out with a deal that both sides can benefit from for many years to come.”
Democrats on the committee voted in favor of the map because they said they were in an “impossible” situation where they were offered inferior options and felt they had to take the opportunity to get the best map available.
House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn, D-Cincinnati, said the process was out of their control, so they did what they could to preserve Democrats’ options.
“This is not the congressional map Ohioans deserve, but I believe we averted a disaster with this map,” said Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood.
The previous map, adopted in March 2022, was divided into 10 Republican districts and five Democratic districts.
In September, Democrats proposed a map that would include eight Republican and seven Democratic districts.
This map heard hours of supportive testimony at the Joint Committee on Congressional Redistricting, but was never brought to a vote.
Republican leaders on the commission, including Gov. Mike DeWine, approved the map created by the commission, saying it was the right compromise.
They also recognized the motivation that the referendum would not be held after its adoption by the committee.
Without the commission’s bipartisan approval, the congressional redistricting process would go back to the General Assembly.
There, lawmakers could pass the map with a elementary majority of the majority of Republicans making up both chambers.
State Auditor Keith Faber said the argument that the state’s voting trend of 55% Republican to 45% Democrat would produce a map with eight GOP and seven Democratic districts does not represent Ohio’s “political geography.”
“The idea that it will be possible to draw districts in this range without manipulating the boundaries is false,” Faber said. “…It is impossible to get an 8-7 map without unnecessary dividing and dividing (cities, counties and municipalities).”
Ohioans expressed their opposition to Faber, saying state leaders and legislators simply weren’t working strenuous enough to get maps to match those proportions.
Testimony at Thursday and Friday’s meetings had a unified message: Ohioans who attended the meetings strongly condemned not only the 12-3 map, but also the process leading to adoption.
“This is not a compromise, it is a threat,” Julia Cattaneo of Columbus told the committee.
On Thursday, Stewart called those at the meeting — many of whom had been regular attendees during several years of ongoing congressional and state battles over Ohio’s border changes — “paid actors.”
On Friday, some citizens pinned “unpaid actor” labels on their T-shirts.
They continued to shame the commission for “ignoring the law, ignoring the voters,” as Common Cause Ohio’s Mia Lewis put it, and emphasizing the need to exclude politicians from the redistricting process.
“It’s a shame that the discussion among committee members didn’t address how to draw county lines fairly, which would have allowed for the refinement of those districts to be more accurate,” said Beth Lykins, a Columbus resident.
“…I don’t think what I say here will ultimately matter. You do what you want, and I have to live with the knowledge that our government does not operate the way I was taught in Youth in Government.”
The map could be legally challenged, which could go to the Ohio Supreme Court.
Previous map challenges in the redistricting process, including the 10-5 redistricting map used in the last election, have been deemed unduly partisan.
Since then, however, the composition of the state supreme court has changed.
Current Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy was in the minority in previous votes on changing map boundaries, saying she would leave the maps in place.
The current Supreme Court consists of six Republican judges and one Democratic judge.
This story will be updated.
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