Money in Politics Ohio

COLUMBUS — “The list of priority legislation for House Republicans this year did not include an effort to revamp Ohio’s hyper-partisan process for drawing legislative and congressional districts.

“Interesting,” Speaker William G. Batchelder said with a laugh when reminded that the issue was not among those discussed during a press conference yesterday to highlight past accomplishments and what leaders hope to tackle in 2012. “That was all the newspapers could talk about for awhile there.”

As part of the congressional map deal passed in December, a new legislative task force was created to examine an alternative way of drawing district lines, and a recommendation is due by the end of June.” Jim Siegel, The Columbus Dispatch.

Read the whole story

COLUMBUS — “U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich threatened to challenge a black incumbent in a minority district if a new congressional map wasn’t drawn to his liking, the head of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus said Tuesday.

Kucinich, who is white, ultimately chose not to wage a Democratic primary battle with Congresswoman Marcia Fudge. He denied the accusation from State Rep. Sandra Williams….

Slow population growth cost Ohio two of its 18 seats in last year’s reconfiguration of congressional districts. The GOP-drawn map consolidates the respective turf of Kucinich and Rep. Marcy Kaptur, a Toledo Democrat, into one district along the Lake Erie shoreline.” Henry Gomez, The Plain Dealer.

Read the whole story

COLUMBUS — “Although lawmakers agreed last month on a bill that carves out 16 new congressional district maps, the arguing over how Ohio should draw legislative and congressional maps is not dying down.

[Last] week, Secretary of State Jon Husted, a Republican who has been pushing for reform for seven years, urged House Speaker William Batchelder, R-Medina, to consider revamping the process as part of an overall update of the Ohio Constitution.

‘There are many ways to improve upon the partisan, dysfunctional system that currently exists,’ Husted wrote to Batchelder and members of the Constitutional Modernization Commission. ‘In my view, we need to find the right balance between three important virtues: compactness, competitiveness and maintaining communities of interest.’” Laura Bischoff, Dayton Daily News.

Read the whole story

AKRON — “The bitter confrontation over new congressional districts remains fresh in the minds of state lawmakers. Meanwhile, Democrats still are fighting new Ohio House and Senate districts, hoping the Ohio Supreme Court will redraw them even as a March 6 primary approaches.

All that, and the distance until the next round of redistricting after the next census, means it is a good time to think again about reforming the hyperpartisan ways Ohio redraws political boundaries. Figuring out who will control the legislature (which redraws congressional lines) and the apportionment board (the statewide officeholders who control legislative lines) in 2021 is beyond even the most sophisticated forecasting.

A group of four legislators, among them two from the Akron area, is making a solid start on improving the process for reshaping congressional and legislative districts. In the Senate, Frank LaRose, a Copley Township Republican, has teamed with Tom Sawyer, an Akron Democrat. They have been joined by House members Mike Duffey, a Worthington Republican, and Ted Celeste, a Grandview Heights Democrat.” Akron Beacon Journal.

Read the whole story

COLUMBUS — “Ohio House Republicans have asked the state’s attorney general and auditor to review legal fees billed to taxpayers by Democrats as part of a lawsuit brought on behalf of private citizens over newly drawn state legislative districts….

Democrats filed the lawsuit over the Republican-drawn legislative lines last week with the Ohio Supreme Court on behalf of three dozen affected Ohioans. They claim GOP state leaders who controlled the mapmaking process violated provisions of the state constitution that prohibit political maps from unnecessarily splitting communities between districts….

Catherine Turcer said it highlights the need to rethink how lines are drawn.

“Why leave this in the hands of people who have such a conflict of interest?” said Turcer, a co-founder of the Ohio Campaign for Accountable Redistricting and director of the Money in Politics project that researches contributions to Ohio’s statewide and legislative candidates.” Ann Sanner, Associated Press.

Read the whole story

TOLEDO –  “Ohio Democrats are suing to block the Republican-imposed gerrymander of the state’s legislative districts — the basis of voters’ political representation in Columbus. The lawsuit would seem to have little chance of success, because the primary election is less than two months away and the plaintiffs must persuade a state Supreme Court that is six-sevenths Republican to order a new plan.

Still, the suit’s argument is correct: The Republican officials who drew the new boundaries of state House and Senate districts made an almost exclusive priority of keeping and enhancing GOP control of the General Assembly for the next decade. They largely ignored such vital political values as creating compact and contiguous districts that cross county and municipal lines as little as possible, promoting partisan competition, and running a transparent process.

It’s probably too late now to change the legislative maps, or the equally outrageous new reapportionment plan for Ohio’s U.S. House districts. But it’s not too early for Ohioans who want fair and effective political representation to take the line-drawing process out of the hands of either party and assign it to an independent, nonpartisan body.” Toledo Blade.

Read the whole story