Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima), left, and Ohio Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon), right. (Photo by Graham Stokes for the Ohio Capital Journal. Only repost photo with original story.)
Ohio Republicans have not yet released their proposed congressional map to the public as the second deadline for adopting a bipartisan map approaches. Why? They say they want to hear citizens’ opinions first. But Democrats say they are intentionally not following the guidelines.
The clock continues to tick for Ohio to pass a modern congressional map. After lawmakers failed to take the first step in the process, which would have been to adopt a bipartisan map by the end of September, the Ohio Redistricting Commission (ORC) takes over.
Now everyone is waiting for Gov. Mike DeWine to convene the group, which he said will be “soon” on Friday.
“When soon?” we asked the voivode.
“Coming soon,” he said with a smile.
“I feel like we talk about ‘soon’ a lot,” the reporter added, referring to the fact that whenever he doesn’t want to share details with reporters, he says “soon.”
“Well, we know what the law is,” DeWine replied. “It will have to happen this month.”
ORC’s five Republicans and two Democrats will debate how to draw the 15 U.S. House districts. The group consists of two Republicans and two Democrats in the Statehouse. The three remaining positions include governor, secretary of state and auditor, all currently held by Republican Party officials.
Ohio’s congressional districts currently consist of 10 Republicans and five Democrats. They were twice found guilty of unconstitutional gerrymandering, but Ohio voters were still forced to vote for them in 2022 and 2024.
On average, Republicans win 55% to 45% of the vote over Democrats in Ohio. Due to this division, Democrats proposed a map with eight red seats and seven blue seats.
Republicans still haven’t released their map yet, more than a month after Democrats did.
“I don’t think it’s going to do any good to just put a map out there so everyone has something to talk about,” House Speaker Matt Huffman of Lima said after we asked for responses from citizens who are upset that the GOP hasn’t given them a map yet.
Republican legislative leaders say no map has been designed yet and they haven’t talked to the White House about the process.
Huffman said the public needs to think twice before drawing a map. This opinion was echoed by several other party members.
“We shouldn’t do it the old way, ‘Here’s the map, pass it along, see you later,'” he said.
But Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, say that’s exactly what Republicans are doing.
“(The way the process works) has really upended the possibility of a bilateral map and a process that would allow us to come to an agreement because they just ran out of time,” Antonio said.
If the ORC doesn’t adopt a bipartisan map by the end of October, lawmakers will get a second chance to approve it — and it doesn’t have to be a bipartisan map. It would only require the consent of a elementary majority.
House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn, D-Cincinnati, is concerned. GOP leaders say they want at least 12 or 13 of the 15 districts to be GOP-leaning.
“They’re afraid they’re going to lose next November because they broke their promises, so they want to steal three congressional districts,” Isaacsohn said.
DeWine asks for patience.
“These things, if they get worked out — if they get worked out — typically don’t get resolved in a public meeting,” the governor said.
But for now, Democrats and the public remain in the murky.
Deadlines and process
FAILED: September 30: Lawmakers had to pass the map with at least 60% support in each chamber and at least 50% support from Democrats.
October 31: To meet this deadline, at least four ORC members must agree, including two Republicans and two Democrats. They must hold two public meetings if they intend to hand over the map.
If that fails, the matter will go back to the Legislature.
November 30: This map can also be adopted by a elementary majority vote and must be replaced after six years.
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This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and are published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication on other news outlets because it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.
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