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Staff article
COLUMBUS, Ohio- Flanked by fellow Democrats, Senate Democratic Leader Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) (5th from left) and House Democratic Leader Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati) on Tuesday introduced legislation putting forth their congressional redistricting proposal.
Per state law and the Ohio constitution, the state legislature carves out congressional districts, including Ohio's 11th congressional district, which includes the majority Black city of Cleveland and several of its eastern suburbs of Cuyahoga County.
Antonio said that Democrats, who are in the minority in both the state House of Representatives and the state Senate, are introducing their redistricting plan now to comply with Ohio's Sept. 30 deadline for the General Assembly to pass a bipartisan map.
"Today, we are introducing a fair, constitutional congressional map that we hope will be a starting point for this redistricting process," said Antonio, whose 23rd state legislative district includes 14 of Cleveland's 17 wards.
"Last time around, the Republican strategy was to ignore deadlines and force through a gerrymandered map at the eleventh hour," Antonio said. "This map shows that if Republicans are willing, we can pass a fair, bipartisan map before the September 30th deadline, and fulfil the reforms overwhelmingly approved by Ohioans in 2018. It's time for us to work together to do our job and put the people of Ohio over politicians."
"We are introducing a fair, constitutional map because it has real-world consequences for the people of this state. The principle is very simple. Voters should get to choose their elected officials, not the other way around. What we have proposed follows the law and gives voters the voice they deserve in their congressional representation," said Isaacsohn. "At the end of the day, our role is to fight for what people deserve. This should not be about Republicans or Democrats. This is about people having a basic voice in their democracy so they can afford healthcare and feed their kids without worrying about the government messing things up."
Ohio's state constitution requires a mid-decade redistricting process this year because the last map failed to earn bipartisan support.
The Democratic map:
"We are introducing a fair, constitutional map because it has real-world consequences for the people of this state. The principle is very simple. Voters should get to choose their elected officials, not the other way around. What we have proposed follows the law and gives voters the voice they deserve in their congressional representation," said Isaacsohn. "At the end of the day, our role is to fight for what people deserve. This should not be about Republicans or Democrats. This is about people having a basic voice in their democracy so they can afford healthcare and feed their kids without worrying about the government messing things up."
Ohio's state constitution requires a mid-decade redistricting process this year because the last map failed to earn bipartisan support.
The Democratic map:
- Does not favor or disfavor any political party or its incumbents.
- Models districts from statewide voter preference of the past 10 years.
- Does not unfairly pit any incumbents against one another.
- Creates three separate districts that are wholly contained within counties.
- Does not illegally split municipalities or townships in any district.
- Is rated as more compact than the state's existing map.
- Maximizes compliance with all provisions of the Ohio Constitution and U.S. Constitution, as well as federal laws, including those that protect racial minorities and voting rights.
- And importantly, it keeps communities together.
Under this proposal:
- Districts in the map include 786,630 people.
- 74 counties are left whole;
- 14 counties are split once, while no counties are split twice; and
- All districts are contiguous.
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com are the most-read Black digital newspaper and blog in Ohio and the Midwest. Tel- 216-659-0473. Email-editor@clevelandurbannews.com.
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