Will fairness rule? Ohio set to re-map congressional districts?

With a 10-5 party imbalance already, voter coalitions push back against efforts at more gerrymandering

By Nick Evans
Ohio Capital Journal

COLUMBUS — Ohio lawmakers are preparing to draft new congressional districts. Several progressive organizations calling themselves the Equal Districts Coalition are joining forces again to push for fair maps.

Lawmakers are going back to the drawing board because they approved maps along partisan lines in 2021. Ohio is actually the only state in the country constitutionally mandated to do so, but the exercise comes as the Trump administration pushes Republican state leaders to redraw more maps.

The “very simple redrawing” Trump wants in Texas is an apparent bid to offset potential mid-term losses in 2026. Republicans hold an exceptionally narrow majority in the U.S. House. New, more GOP-friendly maps in a handful of Republican states might push the goalposts just far enough to stave off a Democratic majority.

With Republican gerrymandering efforts gaining momentum, some Democratic states have threatened gerrymanders of their own to negate Republican gains. But League of Women Voters of Ohio Executive Director Jen Miller was unequivocal in her opposition of those tactics.