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Akron
Beacon Journal...
Primary
task
October 24, 2011
Ohio
Democrats are moving ahead with a
petition drive to put congressional districts just drawn by Republicans
on the
ballot in November of next year. Few doubt the party can gather
sufficient
signatures by Dec. 26, which would put the districts on hold until the
state’s
voters decide their fate.
As
Democrats gathered signatures,
Republicans responded by postponing primaries for U.S. House races and
the
presidential race to June, allowing time for new districts to be drawn.
Republicans
fumed that the referendum
strategy could result in federal judges taking up the task of drawing
new
lines. In truth, Democrats, shut out of power in the legislature, had
little
choice but to take the egregious redistricting bill to the ballot after
Republicans tilted the playing field heavily in their favor for the
next
decade.
The
Republican plan for a split
primary promises an expensive mess. It would leave in place a March
primary for
local and state races, plus the U.S. Senate race, costing taxpayers $15
million
and creating unnecessary confusion for voters (although likely making
it harder
for Democrats to recruit candidates to challenge the Republican
legislative
majorities). Delaying the presidential primary (necessary because
delegates to
party nominating conventions are elected in congressional districts)
would
erase any hope for clout in selecting the Republican nominee.
Fortunately,
most of these issues
could be resolved if Republicans work with Democrats on a compromise
bill for
congressional districts that reflects the competitive nature of Ohio
elections.
That process begins with tossing aside the Republican effort to
maximize
partisan advantage.
The
work is not as difficult as it might
seem. Injecting an element of bipartisanship into drawing new political
boundaries after each census long has been urged by Jon Husted, once a
Republican lawmaker and now secretary of state. More, the League of
Women
Voters and other independent groups already have held a congressional
redistricting contest that awarded points for the essential elements of
a deal,
providing a template for compactness and political competitiveness.
If
both sides get down to work, a
single primary in May (its usual time in years without a presidential
race) is
one possibility. In terms of nominating clout, the damage would be
slight, even
a March primary likely too late in the currently front-loaded process.
A single
June primary would be preferable, as in 1992 under similar
circumstances.
Legislative
leaders started talks late
last week, but the discussion stalled over the weekend. It’s time to
get back
to the job.
Read
this and other articles at the
Akron Beacon Journal
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