A Republican-dominated Ohio panel adopted new U.S. House districts on Friday that could boost the GOP\u2019s chances of winning two additional seats in next year\u2019s elections and aid\u00a0President Donald Trump\u2019s efforts\u00a0to hold on to a slim congressional majority.<\/p>\n
The action by the Ohio Redistricting Commission came as Virginia’s Democratic-led Virginia General Assembly advanced a proposed\u00a0constitutional amendment\u00a0that could pave the way for redistricting in the state ahead of congressional midterm elections next year. The Senate on Friday passed a resolution that would allow lawmakers to temporarily bypass a bipartisan redistricting commission and gerrymander their maps. The House had advanced it Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Trump has been urging Republican-led states to reshape their U.S. House districts in an attempt to win more seats. But unlike in other states, Ohio\u2019s\u00a0redistricting\u00a0was required by the state constitution because the current districts were adopted after the 2020 census without bipartisan support.<\/p>\n
Ohio joins\u00a0Texas,\u00a0Missouri\u00a0and\u00a0North Carolina, where Republican lawmakers already have revised their congressional districts.<\/p>\n
Democrats have been pushing back.\u00a0California voters\u00a0are deciding Tuesday on a redistricting plan passed by the Democratic-led Legislature.<\/p>\n
The political parties are in an intense battle, because Democrats need to gain just three seats in next year\u2019s election to win control of the House and gain the power to impede Trump\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n
In Ohio, Republicans already hold 10 of 15 congressional seats. The new map could boost Republican chances in already competitive districts currently held by Democratic Reps. Greg Landsman in Cincinnati and Marcy Kaptur near Toledo. Kaptur won a 22nd term last year by about 2,400 votes, or less than 1 percentage point, in a district carried by Trump. Landsman was reelected with more than 54% of the vote.<\/p>\n
Ohio residents criticize new map<\/p>\n
Ohio’s commission had faced a Friday deadline to adopt a new map, or else the task would have fallen to the GOP-led Legislature, which could have crafted districts even more favorable to Republicans. But any redistricting bill passed by the Legislature could have been subject to an initiative petition campaign from opponents seeking to force a public referendum on the new map.<\/p>\n
The uncertainty of that legislative process provided commissioners of both parties with some incentive for compromise. All seven commissioners \u2014 five Republicans and two Democrats \u2014 voted for the new map.<\/p>\n
But Ohio residents who testified to commissioners Friday denounced the new districts. Julia Cattaneo, who wore a shirt saying \u201cgerrymandering is cheating,\u201d said the new map is gerrymandered more for Republicans than the one it is replacing and is not the sort of compromise needed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, you are compromising \u2014 your integrity, honor, duty and to represent Ohioans,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Added resident Scott Sibley: \u201cThis map is an affront to democracy, and you should all \u2014 every one of you \u2014 be ashamed.”<\/p>\n
Republican state Auditor Keith Farber, a member of the commission, defended the map during a testy exchange with one opponent. Because many Democrats live in cities and many Republicans in rural areas, he said there was no way to draw a map creating eight Republican and seven Democratic districts \u2014 as some had urged \u2014 without splitting cities, counties and townships.<\/p>\n
Virginia Democrats point at Trump to defend redistricting<\/p>\n
Virginia is represented in the U.S. House by six Democrats and five Republicans. Democratic lawmakers haven\u2019t unveiled their planned new map, nor how many seats they are trying to gain, but said their moves are necessary to respond to the Trump-inspired gerrymandering in Republican-led states.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur voters are asking to have that voice. They\u2019re asking that we protect democracy, that we not allow gerrymandering to happen throughout the country, and we sit back,\u201d Democratic Sen. Barbara Favola said.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0proposed constitutional amendment\u00a0would let lawmakers temporarily bypass a bipartisan commission and redraw congressional districts to their advantage. The measure would still need to pass the General Assembly again next year, then go before voters in a statewide referendum.<\/p>\n
The developments come as Virginia holds statewide elections Tuesday, where all 100 seats in the House of Delegates are on the ballot. Democrats would need to keep their slim majority in the lower chamber to advance the constitutional amendment next year.<\/p>\n
Republican Sen. Mark Obenshain said Democrats were ignoring the will of voters who had overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan redistricting commission.<\/p>\n
\u201cHeaven forbid that we actually link arms and work together on something,\u201d Obenshain said. \u201cWhat the voters of Virginia said is, \u2018We expect redistricting to be an issue that we work across the aisle on, that we link arms on.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
But Democratic Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, who has long championed the state\u2019s bipartisan redistricting commission, noted the panel still would be in charge of redistricting after the 2030 census.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not trying to end the practice of fair maps,” he said. “We are asking the voters if, in this one limited case, they want to ensure that a constitutional-norm-busting president can\u2019t break the entire national election by twisting the arms of a few state legislatures.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri; Scolforo from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Diaz from Richmond, Virginia. Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press\/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative.\u00a0Report for America\u00a0is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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