Columbus Dispatch...
Critics say GOP congressional map will add to political dysfunction
By Jim Siegel 
September 18, 2011

A coalition that is pushing lawmakers to draw congressional districts that are more compact and competitive said yesterday that only two of the 16 new GOP-drawn districts would be politically competitive. 

Neither is in central Ohio. 

Jim Slagle, manager of the Ohio Campaign for Accountable Redistricting, said 14 of 16 districts have political indexes of at least 55 percent favoring one of the parties, a status that the group defines as uncompetitive. The group made its evaluation with data from the 2008 presidential election and the 2010 elections for governor, auditor and secretary of state. 

Ten districts under the new congressional map revealed this week would lean strongly Republican, and two others lean Republican — the 14th in northeastern Ohio and the 6th in the southeast — but they could be competitive. Four districts are strongly Democratic. 

The House State Government and Elections Committee voted along party lines yesterday to approve House Bill 319, the redistricting bill, setting up a likely full House vote today. It then goes to the Senate. 

“What was done here is the traditional use of gerrymandering principles,” Slagle told the committee, noting that the new “zig-zag” district for Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Upper Arlington, is the worst drawn of all. “What was done here was an effort to pack Democratic voters into four districts. 

“What you end up with are a lot of races where the Republican candidate doesn’t win in a landslide, but probably wins.” 

Democrats, Slagle said, are likely to win big in their races. 

Democrats also blasted the map yesterday, but their minority status leaves them little ability to stop it. State Democratic Chairman Chris Redfern, however, hinted that there could be an effort to gather signatures for a referendum effort that would delay the map’s implementation and place it on the 2012 ballot. That could create significant legal issues for the 2012 congressional elections. 

Asked about the prospect of a referendum, House Minority Leader Armond Budish, D-Beachwood, said, “I’m sure all options will be considered given this extreme map that just slashes and burns communities all over the state.” 

Calling it “a gerrymander that is far more egregious than we’ve seen in the past,” Budish said the plan splits counties more than 60 times and splits municipalities and townships 138 times. 

Rep. Matt Huffman, R-Lima, chairman of the Elections Committee, called talk of a referendum “ irresponsible.” 

“The referendum process is not meant to be a political game,” he said. “I think most Ohioans would agree with that.” 

Critics say the likely new district breakdown of 12 Republicans and four Democrats does not match the state’s political balance, which some say leans only slightly Republican. 

Take the last six presidential elections, three won by Republicans and three by Democrats. More than 30 million total votes were cast by Ohioans in those six elections, with GOP candidates getting 14.06 million votes and Democratic candidates getting 13.94 million. The difference of about 120,000 votes equals 0.4 percent. 

House Republicans have not expressed concern about whether districts are competitive or oddly shaped or slice up cities and counties. 

“I noticed a lot of people are saying, ‘Gee, there are a lot of divisions of counties.’ Of course, that’s not relevant in a federal redistricting,” said Speaker William G. Batchelder, R-Medina. 

Asked if he thought the map was fair, he said, “Oh yes, no question about it,” adding that he thinks the index of the seats is closer than what Slagle’s group is portraying. 

Budish disagreed. 

“This map will create more partisanship and more dysfunction because it encourages candidates to pander to the extremes of their parties — both parties,” Budish said. “For those Ohioans who like the hyperpartisanship and political dysfunction of Washington, then you’ll love this new congressional map.” 

As a state senator last session, Jon Husted, now secretary of state, had a plan to create a bipartisan map-drawing process, but factions of both parties stopped it from generating enough votes to pass. 

Yesterday, the committee also passed a bill that would move the 2012 presidential primary from March to May. The move is needed to push back the Dec. 7 filing deadline, but that works only if Democrats provide seven votes to pass it as an emergency measure, so it does not have to wait 90 days to take effect. 

Budish backed out of an agreement with Batchelder to provide those votes because, he said, House Republicans declined to allow for two weeks of public hearings on the GOP-drawn map. If the filing deadline passes before new congressional maps take effect, Republicans expect lawsuits will be filed. 

Huffman said he had “no confidence” that another two weeks of discussions would lead to a map with bipartisan support. He also noted that House Democrats did not submit a proposed map. 

“You can’t have input in the process if you’re not going to participate in the process,” he said. 

Read it at the Columbus Dispatch