The campaign to end gerrymandering in Ohio has raised more than $23 million, according to a recently released campaign finance disclosure form, with most of that money coming from groups outside Ohio.
Money continues to pour in to support the proposal on the November ballot. Ohio voters will decide how the state draws district maps.
Citizens Not Politicians collected enough signatures to get its amendment on the ballot, with spokesman Chris Davey saying it aims to stop partisan gerrymandering.
“Democrats, Republicans — politicians — have been rigging the game in Ohio for years,” Davey said. “This is a nonpartisan issue.”
Today, Ohio lawmakers are creating those maps — ones that directly affect them and their colleagues.
The Ohio Redistricting Commission (ORC) is made up of seven seats. Two will always be assigned to Republicans and two to Democrats in the Statehouse. The remaining three seats include the governor, secretary of state, and auditor.
That led to a messy 2022 Ohio districting election, when the bipartisan Ohio Supreme Court invalidated seven different certified maps, saying Republican commissioners drew the boundaries unfairly to benefit their party.
The proposal calls for the creation of a 15-member Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission (OCRC), made up of Republican, Democratic and Independent citizens who represent different geographic areas and demographic groups of the state.
The law prohibits current and former politicians, party activists, lobbyists and major political donors from serving on the commission.
It requires fair and impartial districts, making it unconstitutional to create districts that discriminate against or favor any political party or particular politician. It also requires the commission to operate in an open and independent process.
A recently released campaign finance report shows that people across the state and country support this change.
“Our support comes from a broad coalition of Republicans, independents and Democrats who want to exclude politicians from the process because they have repeatedly shown they are unwilling or unable to pass fair maps,” Davey said.
Since the beginning of 2024, CNP has raised over $23 million.
Gov. Mike DeWine, who opposes the amendment, warned that it is not the grassroots movement Davey portrays.
“Voters should know this is funded primarily by people outside of Ohio,” DeWine said.
Breakdown
85% of the $23 million was raised from out of state.
Below is a list of states (including the District of Columbia) that have donated at least one million people:
- Washington, DC: $11.1 million
- Ohio: $3.6 million
- Virginia: $3.4 million
- California: $2.1 million
- New York: $1.6 million
- Massachusetts: $1 million
Numbers are rounded.
The biggest money donors are progressive or nonpartisan groups in the Washington, D.C., area, funding about 60% of the campaign so far. The Virginia donations came from Arlington, which could be called the D.C. area.
The Sixteen Thirty Fund donated the largest amount — $6 million.
Groups make up 98% of funding, while 2% comes from individual donors. To be clear, individual donors donate to larger groups.
Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said people should ask themselves why the sponsors of the so-called anti-gerrymandering amendment are mostly liberal groups.
“They’re not interested in moderate Republicans or conservative Democrats,” Huffman said in March. “They want to make sure their far-left agenda gets passed.”
Davey argued that it is hypocritical for lawmakers to criticize accepting out-of-state money, as all parties to several previous proposals have been funded primarily by groups outside Ohio.
In August 2023, a GOP-backed amendment to make it harder to change the Ohio Constitution, which failed spectacularly, raised $4.8 million. An Illinois billionaire gave $4 million, or 83%.
In November 2023, a Republican-backed campaign to stop abortion from being enshrined in the Constitution was also funded largely by out-of-state groups.
“If you look at the people and organizations that have supported us financially, it’s diverse,” he said. “It includes people from across the political spectrum because it’s not red and blue, it’s not Republican and Democrat.”
Of the nearly 800 donors, most gave between $5 and $25, my analysis found. The most common donation was $6.20. Most of the individual contributions came from Ohioans.
CNP has spent millions on digital and TV ads that should hit the airwaves soon, Davey said.
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