(The Center Square) – A day after Ohio Democratic lawmakers offered the first plan for constitutionally required new congressional districts, the Republican majority General Assembly said Wednesday it is creating a Joint Committee on Congressional Redistricting.
The announcement came from Sen. President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, and House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima.
Huffman and McColley each appointed four Republicans and two Democrats to the committee, giving it an 8-4 Republican majority. The first meeting is scheduled for Sept. 22.
Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, welcomed the committee.
“I’m encouraged to see the majority take action to meet Ohio’s constitutional obligation to pass a bipartisan congressional map by Sept. 30,” Antonio said in a statement.
House and Senate Democrats introduced a new congressional map on Tuesday, which they say meets the constitutional requirements of mid-decade redistricting and keeps 74 of the state’s 88 counties intact.
“We are introducing a fair, constitutional map because it has real world consequences for the people of this state,” said House Minority Leader Dani Isaacohn, D-Cincinnati. “The principle is very simple. Voters should get to choose their elected officials, not the other way around. What we have proposed follows the law and gives voters the voice they deserve in their congressional representation.”
Antonio and Isaacohn are both committee members, along with Republican Reps. Adam Bird, Nick Santucci, Brian Stewart and D.J. Swearingen. Senate Republican members include Sens. Jane Timken, Theresa Gavarone, Steve Huffman and Bill Reineke.
Democratic members include Rep. Desiree Tims and Sen. Willis E. Blackshear.
Unlike other states where politics is driving a nearly unprecedented push for redistricting, Ohio is required to redraw lines after Republican maps approved in 2020 failed to receive any support from Democrats.
In 2018, Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment that required congressional districts drawn without bipartisan support from the Ohio Redistricting Commission must be redrawn every four years.
In 2020, the commission approved the maps favoring 10 Republican and five Democratic seats. According to Antonio, the maps for midterms should make the split 8-7 in favor of the GOP.
The General Assembly can pass new maps by Sept. 30, with a two-thirds vote in each chamber, which includes half of the Democrats. If that doesn’t work, the commission must adopt a plan by Oct. 31 that has the support of both Democrats on the commission.
If the commission fails, the General Assembly can try again and must pass new maps by Nov. 30. Those maps can pass with a simple majority but must comply with the constitution’s anti-gerrymandering provisions.
Those rules include that no plan can favor or disfavor one political party and districts must resemble voting percentages from the last 10 years in statewide and federal elections.
