BY: SUSAN TEBBEN – Ohio Capital Journal
House Democrats have thrown their congressional redistricting maps in the ring, completing the partisan caucus proposals.
State Reps. Richard Brown, D-Canal Winchester, and Tavia Galonski, D-Akron, submitted the maps on Friday as what they call “a more realistic vision for Ohio compared to the widely criticized House and Senate Republican maps.”
“Democrats are offering a realistic alternative that addresses issues raised by Ohioans,” Galonski said in a statement. “Our plan is compact, it eliminates the splitting of our largest counties, and reflects the preferences of voters.”
The partisan lean of the map, according to Dave’s Redistricting App analysis, shows a 52.3% Republican lean statewide. It has five competitive districts, with six Republican-leaning districts and four Democratic-leaning districts.
Last week, Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate unveiled their plans for new congressional districts maintaining their significant advantage in the vast majority of districts.
Ohio Republicans have had a 12-4 advantage in congressional districts since the maps were last drawn in 2011, with no congressional seats flipping parties in any election since that time. Ohio lost one district in the 2020 U.S. Census, going from 16 down to 15.
Both the House and Senate GOP maps would incorporate large swaths of Republican territory into Toledo Democratic U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s district effectively rendering it a Republican district.
The House GOP map splits Hamilton, Franklin, Cuyahoga and Summit counties all into three districts. In Summit, one stretches up to Lake Erie communities such as Ashtabula, and another stretches down to the Hocking Hills area of Southeastern Ohio. In Franklin County, the city of Westerville is moved into the district currently occupied by Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, and in Hamilton County, Democratic Cincinnati is slimly connected to the entirety of Republican Warren County.
The Senate GOP map also splits Hamilton, Franklin and Cuyahoga counties into three districts, with Democrats holding the advantage in the city centers and Republicans having the advantage in the respective other two districts including parts of each county. This map also moves a significant portion of Franklin County into Jim Jordan’s district. The Senate GOP map also includes most of Montgomery County, home of Dayton, and Republican Warren County in the same district.
A joint committee on congressional redistricting has scheduled hearings for Wednesday and Friday of this week. On Wednesday, the committee will meet at 2:30 p.m. in Room 313 of the Ohio statehouse, and in the same room on Friday at 10:30 a.m.
SUSAN TEBBEN is an award-winning journalist with a decade of experience covering Ohio news, including courts and crime, Appalachian social issues, government, education, diversity and culture. She has worked for The Newark Advocate, The Glasgow Daily Times, The Athens Messenger, and WOUB Public Media. She has also had work featured on National Public Radio.
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