Gov. Mike DeWine, center, swears in members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission on Sept. 13.
Jeremy Pelzer | cleveland.com | TNS
COLUMBUS — The Ohio Redistricting Commission is set to reconvene on Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Mike DeWine announced, ending a week-long delay stemming from a tug-of-war over political power between Republican legislative leaders.
However, it still remains to be seen whether Republicans who control the seven-member commission will put forward a plan to redraw the state’s 99 House districts and 33 Senate districts, or if the two Democrats on the commission would vote for such a plan.
The seven-member commission was sworn in last Wednesday, but the meeting was called off soon after that because Senate President Matt Huffman, a Lima Republican, and House Speaker Jason Stephens, a Lawrence County Republican, couldn’t agree on the usually mundane issue of deciding which Republican should co-chair the commission. Huffman, who can’t seek reelection in the Senate next year because of term limits, is expected to challenge Stephens for the speaker’s gavel in 2025.
DeWine’s announcement of a 3 p.m. meeting on Wednesday follows the release of a letter sent earlier on Tuesday by Attorney General Dave Yost. Yost, a Columbus Republican who’s not on the commission, stated that, under his reading of the state constitution, the commission can still meet and move ahead with passing a map even without co-chairs.
“No chairs is no roadblock,” said Yost spokeswoman Bethany McCorkle, in a statement.
The redistricting commission only has a few weeks at most to redraw legislative district lines before running afoul of administrative deadlines ahead of the March 2024 primary election. Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a GOP commission member and the state’s top elections official, previously warned that new maps need to be passed by this Friday, though Democratic commission member Allison Russo, the Ohio House minority leader, said they have until mid-October.
Senate GOP spokesman John Fortney stated Tuesday, prior to DeWine’s announcement, that negotiations are continuing in good faith, though he said he didn’t know whether any deal between Huffman and Stephens had been reached.
Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer has reached out to spokespeople for other commission members.
Russo and Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio of Lakewood, the two Democrats on the seven-member commission, said during an online news conference Tuesday morning that they hadn’t seen any overall redistricting plan from Republicans. However, Russo, who’s from suburban Columbus, said “some concepts” have been discussed.
Antonio and Russo repeated statements they made last week that neither of them will vote for any redistricting plan that either maintains or expands GOP advantages compared to the current map. Right now, Republicans hold 67 of 99 House seats and 26 of 33 Senate seats.
“The reality is, we’re under a gerrymandered, unconstitutional map currently, and to un-gerrymander that map means that the Republicans who have a supermajority are going to have to give up seats,” Russo said. “I think, certainly, if we see a map proposed that shows an unwillingness to do that, it will be very clear that this is not a serious attempt at trying to draw a constitutional map.”
During that news conference, Russo and Antonio laid out an alternative Democratic redistricting plan that would give Republicans an advantage in 56 of 99 House districts and 19 of 33 Senate districts. That is 11 fewer seats than Republicans currently hold in the House and seven fewer seats than they have in the Senate.
Democratic support for redistricting maps matters, among other reasons, because according to some members of the commission, maps with bipartisan backing would last for eight years, while maps passed with only Republican votes would only last for four years.
In addition, before the redistricting commission can conduct business, it has to adopt commission rules – and under the Ohio Constitution, those rules can only pass if they have the support of at least one Democrat.
Antonio stated Monday that Democratic and Republican commission members are “close” to an agreement on some rules, including that a final vote on new legislative maps would take place during a meeting separate from the three public hearings. Democrats were still reviewing the GOP rules proposal on Monday afternoon, she said.
However, Antonio said she and Russo are balking at Republican commission members’ proposal to hold all three constitutionally required public meetings on it on the same day.
During the last round of legislative redistricting, the redistricting commission held three public hearings on draft maps in Dayton, Warrensville Heights, and Columbus over three consecutive days in September 2021.
Those draft maps, along with several others, ended up being struck down by the Ohio Supreme Court as unconstitutionally gerrymandered. One set of those maps ended up being used for last year’s legislative races, but the court’s ruling means the commission now has to draw new maps ahead of the 2024 elections.
The commission must draw new state legislative districts, but it won’t be dealing with congressional district lines this time around. The Ohio Supreme Court dismissed a case challenging the state’s congressional map at the request of Democrats and good government groups that sued over the maps last year.
