Eric Holder: Republican Commissioners Cannot Be Entrusted With Ohio Redistricting Process
Washington, D.C. -- Today, Eric H. Holder, Jr., the 82nd Attorney General of the United States, released the following statement in response to the Republican members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission producing another gerrymandered congressional map that would violate the Ohio Constitution and the Ohio Supreme Court’s order:
“This week, Republicans on the Ohio Redistricting Commission are demonstrating that they arrogantly continue to believe that the rule of law does not apply to their actions. They have done everything under the sun except for their job, as instructed by Ohio voters, the Ohio Constitution, and the Ohio Supreme Court, which is to draw fair maps that reflect the will of the people.
“A normal response to an order by the state supreme court would be at bare minimum to improve a map. Instead, the Republican Commissioners prevented the vast majority of Ohioans from participating in the process, shut out their Democratic colleagues, and again drew a gerrymandered congressional map behind closed doors. To be clear: the Republican Commissioners are openly and brazenly ignoring the laws that govern this process and disrespecting the overwhelming majority of Ohio voters who supported the reforms enshrined in the state constitution. It is shameful, and they cannot be trusted to take this process seriously or to respect the orders of a co-equal branch of government. It is time for Republicans to stop their partisan circus. Ohioans need and deserve fair, compliant maps right now – as required by law.”
The proposed Republican congressional map does the following:
Favors Politicians Over People: Similar to all other maps produced by Republican Commissioners, the latest congressional proposal is drawn to tilt the scales to favor the Republican Party. Despite the fact that Ohioans have voted just 54 percent Republican in the last decade, this new map would ensure Republicans occupy about 70-90 percent of the state’s congressional delegation, with 10 heavily Republican seats. Recent statewide elections demonstrate that this is beyond the pale. For example, in 2020, President Trump won 53.3 percent of the vote in Ohio and just 51.3 percent of the statewide vote in 2016. Gov. DeWine won with only 50.4 percent of the statewide vote in 2018. There are just two likely Democratic seats and one Democratic-leaning competitive seat. With two toss up seats, a party that has earned 46 percent of the state’s vote over the past decade could never hold more than one-third of the congressional delegation. This also stands in stark contrast to the fact that Sen. Sherrod Brown was re-elected with 53.4 percent of the vote in 2018.
Dilutes the Political Power of Communities of Color: The proposed map again undermines the political power of Ohio’s communities of color with districts that masterfully crack them apart or pack them into fewer districts – both of which result in diluting the strength of their votes. For example, Black and AAPI communities in both Franklin and Hamilton Counties are cracked apart between two districts each – a move that could have and should have been avoided by drawing more unified districts in each of those counties.
Unnecessarily Splits Up Diverse, Populous Communities: Instead of drawing maps that reflect the fact that the most populous areas of the state are in its cities and their suburbs, Republicans again drew a map that cracks and packs these areas to dilute Democratic performance. While this issue exists from Cleveland to Cincinnati, it is particularly pronounced in the parts of the state that saw some of the biggest increase in population across the last decade – Franklin, Delaware, and Hamilton Counties – all of which should have seen a corresponding increase in political representation to correspond with population growth. Instead, the Republican congressional map unnecessarily cracks apart the biggest metropolitan areas in the central and southwest parts of the state, preventing the most populous and diverse areas of the state from electing leaders of their choice.
One egregious example is Hamilton County, which includes Cincinnati. The congressional map splits that county into one overwhelmingly Republican seat and another that is a toss up, despite the fact that President Biden won Hamilton County by 16 percent. Another example is the congressional district that stretches from the Ohio Statehouse in downtown Columbus to rural Shelby County near the Indiana border.
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Contact: Brooke Lillard | Lillard@redistrictingaction.org