Ignore the false narrative; districts not rigged for GOP
Faced with extraordinary challenges created by the pandemic, the Ohio Constitution provided a pathway to a new four-year map plan for the 99 house districts and 33 senate districts of the Ohio General Assembly.
Voters overwhelmingly approved a Constitutional amendment changing the process of how the lines are drawn, and it worked.
Although not the optimal 10-year map, which in this case required a unanimous vote of the seven-member Redistricting Commission, the process followed the Constitution and the Commission approved a four-year map by a majority vote of 5-2.
The Commission map is both constitutional and compliant with the directives approved under the Constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2015.
It keeps districts compact and communities together. I should know, I was the primary author of that amendment and served as a co-chair of the campaign to pass it.
Make no mistake, special interest groups tried very hard to undermine the process by pressuring members to accept so-called “representational fairness.”
This is simply the basic definition of gerrymandering, as these groups insist on telling Ohio voters what is fair.
Then their demands changed from what was at first a call for more competitive districts, which the Republican map created, to a flat demand for representational fairness. This would format district voter breakdowns statewide, effectively removing voters from the process by giving an advantage to one party or another.
With all the rhetoric, combined with a four-month delay in the U.S. Census data caused by the pandemic, I recognized the need for additional time to negotiate to reach the goal of a 10-year map.
In April, I proposed asking voters to move the deadlines back 30 days. That, too, was undermined by special interests who responded with politically dishonest accusations about the Commission’s intent, and they pressured Democrats to not support that. So, here we are with a four-year map.
It is important to remember, that candidates, issues and campaigns matter.
It wasn’t that long ago the speaker of the Ohio House was a Democrat, and so was the governor.
The General Assembly truly represents the voice of the people, district to district and town to town.
Don’t fall for the false narrative of, “My candidate can’t win based on the lines.”
Republican candidates have carried districts with large numbers of registered Democrats based on the quality of the candidate and their campaign.
In the Senate, examples would include northeast and southeast Ohio, and even the suburbs surrounding western Columbus.
Finally, whether it was the old Apportionment Board, or the new Redistricting Commission, there will always be people from both parties who are unhappy with the final map.
Change is challenging. In this case, the change voters made to the Constitution in 2015 worked.
Matt Huffman, R-lima, is president of the Ohio Senate.
Make no mistake, special interest groups tried very hard to undermine the process by pressuring members to accept so-called ‘representational fairness.’