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Special to the Journal
New maps of the state’s legislative districts place the Mahoning Valley largely in the hands of Republicans, with two exceptions.
Ohio’s powerful new redistribution panel on Wednesday failed to reach the bipartisan consensus needed to pass a 10-year map of the state’s legislative districts based on 2020 census totals.
After hours of negotiations before midnight, the Ohio Redistribution Commission approved new district boundaries based solely on parties. This means that the card will only last four years.
IMPACT OF THE VALLEY
The Republican bill largely keeps the 58th District of Ohio House intact. The Strong Democratic District all includes Youngstown, Austintown, Struthers, Lowellville, Campbell and Coitsville.
The new 59th District is a strong Republican and includes the rest of Mahoning County as well as the Knox, Butler and West Townships of Columbiana County.
The 33rd Senate District includes all of Mahoning, Columbiana, and Carroll counties and is Republican. The current district only includes the first two counties, but has had to expand due to population decline. The current district is represented by State Senator Michael Rulli, R-Salem, who will seek re-election next year if he does not run for Congress.
One Trumbull County House District, a new 64th, is a Democratic district comprising the towns of Warren, Niles, Girard and Hubbard, as well as the townships of Liberty, Weathersfield, Howland and Vienna. The original Republican map had Warren in a red district with rural communities in Trumbull and Portage counties, but this was changed to give Democrats a safe district in Trumbull.
The other House district, a new 65th, will be a strong Republican district comprising the rest of Trumbull County as well as over half of Portage County.
The 32nd senatorial district of Trumbull, which would lean for Republicans, includes all of that county and Portage County. The district is currently represented by State Senator Sandra O’Brien, R-Lenox, who will not be re-elected until 2024. She lives in Ashtabula County, but will represent Trumbull and Portage counties during both. coming years.
CRITICAL
The two Democrats on the redistribution panel – State Senator Vernon Sykes and Democratic House leader Emilia Sykes, her daughter – decried the map drawn by the GOP as an unfair and arrogant defeat of the wishes of voters in the United States. Ohio.
“I consider it offensive and utterly wrong to put this card forward after hearing hundreds of people come before us, hours of witnessing in the cities of this great state, and presenting something that flies with it. so much arrogance in the face of what people, our voters, invited to do ”, said Rep Sykes.
Ohio is using a new redistribution process for the first time this year that was approved by voters through state ballots in 2015 and 2018.
The new system, which aims to combat partisan gerrymandering, demanded that the independent commission – which includes two Republicans and two Democrats from the legislature, as well as three state officials – complete redesigning the legislative constituencies of here Wednesday. It sets an initial deadline of September 30 for the General Assembly to complete a new map of the state’s congressional districts.
An Associated Press analysis found Ohio’s cards to be among the most gerrymandered in the country, during a period when Republicans won more seats than expected based on the percentage of vote they have received.
Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose voted for the final card, but expressed deep disappointment that a bipartisan compromise giving a 10-year card could not be reached.
“We failed”, he said. “Not enough members of this commission wanted to join this effort. “ He accused anonymous Republican colleagues on the panel of not working in good faith to reach a compromise that could satisfy both sides.
GOP auditor Keith Faber said he, LaRose and Republican Gov. Mike DeWine had spent hours trying to find a card that would attract a unanimous vote. he voted “yes with some trepidation.”
DeWine, likewise, said he was “very very sorry” where things ended up, while still supporting the final limits. He suggested that both sides – not just majority Republicans – were to blame.
“It is clear from talking to both parties that there will be no deal, and that we could go there tomorrow and the next day and the next day and that just won’t happen,” he said
Legal challenges are planned.
“Fair Districts Ohio is still reviewing the Ohio House and Senate maps and considering next steps, including possible litigation and voting initiatives in the future,” the coalition said in a statement.
Republican Senate Speaker Matt Huffman said the final map would include 62 of the 99 Ohio House seats that favor Republicans and 23 of the 33 Ohio Senate seats that favor the GOP – down from some earlier cards.
“This brings us much closer to the democratic plan that has been presented”, he said.
The vote followed eight crowded public hearings around the state, where members were pilloried by critics who said the state’s existing legislative and congressional districts are not representative. A few witnesses defended the current Republican advantage as fair, given that the GOP is the dominant party in the state, but they were in a distinct minority.
Ohio’s partisan distribution is around 54% Republicans and 46% Democrats.
The separate process for redrawing congressional ridings is happening concurrently with the legislative map-making process. Ohio lost a seat in Congress due to the slowdown in population growth recorded in the 2020 census, which will give the state 15 rather than 16 seats for the next 10 years.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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