The well-attended redistricting commission public meeting was the first of two scheduled to take place Monday at the Punderson Manor Lodge & Conference Center in Geauga County.
Republicans' proposed redistricting plan for the Ohio Senate and House would give their party an advantage in more districts than they have now. COLUMBUS, Ohio—The Ohio Redistricting Commission on Monday morning heard from a parade of critics, both about Republican-authored state legislative maps and the commission itself.
Jeremy Wald, executive director of the Republican Party of Cuyahoga County, testified against the proposed map for seeking to put the Cleveland suburb of Seven Hills into a Democratic-leaning district that would extend north almost into downtown Cleveland. That district, which would be home to state Rep. Richard Dell’Aquila, a Seven Hills Democrat, “serves as a Democratic gerrymander,” Wald said.
Under the Republican-drawn map currently in place, all 11 House districts in Cuyahoga County favor Democrats on paper, though one of those districts is represented by Republican state Rep. Tom Patton of Strongsville. Smith also said that, thanks to such “overcrowding,” Cuyahoga County would only get 10 Ohio House districts under the proposed redistricting plan. He said that the city of Cleveland should get its own state Senate district and three House districts, with eight additional districts covering suburban Cuyahoga County.
Last year’s redistricting plan was repeatedly found by the Ohio Supreme Court to be unconstitutionally gerrymandered in favor of Republicans. While the maps ended up being used for the 2022 elections, the ruling means that the Ohio Redistricting Commission has to again pass new House and Senate district lines ahead of the 2024 election. The commission is not drawing new congressional district lines this year.
Some members of the public chastised the commission for holding its only Northeast Ohio meetings on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism. Commission membersto accommodate Jewish Ohioans, but the time they decided on for that meeting – 5:30 p.m. on Monday – is about two hours before sunset, when Yom Kippur ends.
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