Ohio Democrats Introduce Fair, Constitutional Congressional Map

COLUMBUS - House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati) and Senate Democratic Leader Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) today introduced legislation putting forth the fairest congressional redistricting proposal in recent years. Democrats are introducing their redistricting plan now to comply with Ohio's September 30 deadline for the General Assembly to pass a bipartisan map.

"We are introducing a fair, constitutional map because it has real world consequences for the people of this state. 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," said Leader Isaacsohn. "At the end of the day, our role is to fight for what people deserve. This should not be about Republicans or Democrats. This is about people having a basic voice in their democracy so they can afford healthcare and feed their kids without worrying about the government messing things up."

"Today, we are introducing a fair, constitutional congressional map that we hope will be a starting point for this redistricting process," said Leader Antonio. "Last time around, the Republican strategy was to ignore deadlines and force through a gerrymandered map at the eleventh hour. This map shows that if Republicans are willing, we can pass a fair, bipartisan map before the September 30th deadline, and fulfill the reforms overwhelmingly approved by Ohioans in 2018. It's time for us to work together to do our job and put the people of Ohio first."

Ohio's state constitution requires a mid-decade redistricting process this year because the last map failed to earn bipartisan support.

The Democratic map:

• Does not favor or disfavor any political party or its incumbents.
• Models districts from statewide voter preference of the past 10 years.
• Does not unfairly pit any incumbents against one another.
• Creates three separate districts that are wholly contained within counties.
• Does not illegally split municipalities or townships in any district.
• Is rated as more compact than the state's existing map.
• Maximizes compliance with all provisions of the Ohio Constitution and U.S. Constitution, as well as federal laws, including those that protect racial minorities and voting rights.
• And importantly, it keeps communities together.

Under this proposal:

Districts in the map include 786,630 people;

• 74 counties are left whole;
• 14 counties are split once, while no counties are split twice; and

All districts are contiguous.
Details on the proposal can be found here and the map, as introduced as House Bill 442 can be reviewed here. Tuesday's full press conference can be viewed here.