Ohio panel unveils proposed US House map that could help Republicans win more seats
By DAVID A. LIEB and MARK SCOLFORO
Associated Press
Ohio’s Republican-led redistricting commission unveiled a proposed U.S. House map Thursday that could give Republicans a chance at winning two more seats in next year’s midterm elections, bolstering President Donald Trump’s efforts to hold on to a slim congressional majority.
Ohio’s redistricting plan comes amid a nationwide battle for partisan advantage ahead of next year’s congressional elections. Trump kick-started the fray this summer by urging Republican-led states to reshape their U.S. House districts in an attempt to win more seats. Republican lawmakers in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina already have done so.
Democrats in California have countered with their own redistricting plan being decided by voters in a Tuesday election. And other states, including Republican-led Indiana and Virginia’s Democratic-led General Assembly, are convening in special sessions aimed at redistricting.
Unlike those other states, which are voluntarily redrawing districts, Ohio is required by its state constitution to enact new congressional districts before the 2026 elections because the current map was adopted by Republican officials without bipartisan support. Republicans currently hold 10 of Ohio’s 15 congressional seats, but some Republicans view the mandatory redistricting as an opportunity to expand upon that.
The proposed map appears to increase Republican chances in the districts held by Democratic U.S. Reps. Greg Landsman in Cincinnati and Marcy Kaptur around Toledo, an area that gave Trump a majority in the 2024 presidential election. Kaptur won a 22nd term last fall by about 2,400 votes, or less than 1 percentage point. Landsman was reelected with more than 54% of the vote last year.
Each seat could be pivotal, because Democrats need to gain just three seats nationally in next year’s elections to win control of the House from Republicans and impede Trump’s agenda. The president’s party historically has lost seats in midterm elections.
Ohio map prompts gerrymandering complaints
The Ohio Redistricting Commission faces a Friday deadline to adopt a new map, which would require support from at least two Republicans and two Democrats on the seven-member panel.
Members of the public who testified at Thursday’s commission meeting expressed outrage and frustration about both the proposed map and the secretive process used to develop it.
The map targets Black and brown communities, said Bria Bennett, with the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, a nonprofit that works on racial, social and economic justice issues.
“What we’re seeing here today is a gerrymandered map,” Bennett said. “It’s a treacherous dereliction of duty and a direct violation of your constitutional responsibility to draw fair districts. Instead of serving the people, you’re serving yourselves.”
Andrea Yagoda told commission members that she was firmly opposed to the map, saying the public had no meaningful opportunity to review it before the hearing.
“Just because you can screw us and you can gerrymander these maps, does not mean that you should do it,” Yagoda said.
Panelist describes redistricting process as broken
If the commission fails to adopt a map, the task would revert to the Republican-led Legislature, which could attempt to pass districts even more favorable to Republicans. But any redistricting bill passed by the Legislature could be subject to an initiative petition campaign from opponents seeking to force a public referendum on the new map. The uncertainty of that legislative process could provide commissioners of both parties with some incentive for compromise.
The proposed map was introduced by the commission’s Republican co-chair, state Rep. Brian Stewart, who said it complies with constitutional criteria and minimizes the number of cities and townships that are split among multiple districts.
State Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, the commission’s Democratic co-chair, opened the meeting by describing the state’s redistricting process as broken and lacking balance, transparency and accountability.
“We can’t ignore the harsh reality that here in Ohio, elected officials pick their voters, not the other way around,” Antonio said.
New proposal marks the third attempt at redistricting
Ohio’s congressional redistricting process was approved by voters in 2018 with a goal of encouraging bipartisan cooperation. But that has not always happened. The constitutional provision set up a three-step process — first giving lawmakers a chance to pass a bipartisan map, then giving a bipartisan commission that same chance, before finally allowing the Legislature to pass a partisan map if the other options failed.
After the 2020 census, the first two options failed and the Republican-led Legislature passed a partisan map. But the state Supreme Court struck it down for unduly favoring Republicans. The Republican members on the redistricting commission then approved a new plan in 2022. The court again ruled that the map unduly favored Republicans, but the districts have nonetheless remained in place.
In September, the Legislature again failed to adopt a new bipartisan map. That kicked the responsibility to the redistricting commission, consisting of five Republicans — two state lawmakers, the governor, auditor and secretary of state — and two Democratic state lawmakers. If the commission doesn’t adopt a bipartisan map, then the Legislature would face a Nov. 30 deadline to approve a map. But this time, the Legislature would need only a majority vote, with no Democratic support required.
___
Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri, and Scolforo from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
