Senate Republicans are preparing to present a new Congressional district map Tuesday. And there's a chance the plan could get a vote out of committee on the same day.
That means the GOP redistricting plan could be on the fast track towards final approval by the end of the month.
Senate and House Republicans in Ohio introduce a new Congressional district map proposal pic.twitter.com/PUGy7DsX7b
— Andy Chow (@andy_chow) November 16, 2021
The details needed for a full voter analysis per district were not yet available.
Republican Senate President Matt Huffman said the goal is to keep districts compact and competitive.
"It's impossible to draw all competitive districts without violating the Constitution otherwise with the number of splits so there will be some districts that are in excess of a 60% likely in whatever map that we end up passing," Huffman said.
Lawmakers must follow provisions created by a statewide ballot issue in 2018 that was intended to stop gerrymandering, when leaders draw maps to favor one political party over another. Those mapmaking changes include a limit on how many times a county can be split.
Lawmakers must approve a new Congressional map with 15 districts, down from the 16 Congressional districts Ohio's had for the last decade.
The final 10-year map would need approval from at least one-third of the Democratic members. A four-year map can pass by a simple majority.
The House and Senate have held separate committee meetings and two hearings by a joint panel to discuss the four plans initially put forth by lawmakers; HB479 (House Republicans), HB483 (House Democrats), SB237 (Senate Democrats), SB258 (Senate Republicans).
The proposed maps differ greatly in which party they favor.
Senate Republican map - SB258 (prior to amendments)
Very Strong Republican Districts (at or more than 20% gap) - 3
Strong Republican Districts (at or more than 10%) - 3
Very Strong Democratic Districts (at or more than 20% gap) - 1
Strong Democratic Districts (at or more than 10%) - 1
Competitive Leaning Republican Districts (under 10%) - 7
Competitive Leaning Democratic Districts (under 10%) - 0
The Senate Republican map would likely put two sets of incumbents in the same district; Bill Johnson (R-6th District) and Tim Ryan (D-13th District); and Joyce Beatty (D-3rd District) and Jim Jordan (R-4th District).
House Republican map - HB479
Very Strong Republican Districts (at or more than 20% gap) - 4
Strong Republican Districts (at or more than 10%) - 5
Very Strong Democratic Districts (at or more than 20% gap) - 0
Strong Democratic Districts (at ore more than 10%) - 2
Competitive Leaning Republican Districts (under 10%) - 4
Competitive Leaning Democratic Districts (under 10%) - 0
The House Republican map would likely put two sets of incumbents in the same district: Steve Chabot (R-1st District) and Brad Wenstrup (R-2nd District); and Joyce Beatty (D-3rd District) and Mike Carey (R-15th District).
Senate Democratic map - SB237
Very Strong Republican Districts (at or more than 20% gap) - 6
Strong Republican Districts (at or more than 10%) - 0
Very Strong Democratic Districts (at or more than 20% gap) - 2
Strong Democratic Districts (at or more than 10%) - 1
Competitive Leaning Republican Districts (under 10%) - 2
Competitive Leaning Democratic Districts (under 10%) - 4
The Senate Democratic map would put four sets of incumbents in the same district: Steve Chabot (R-1st District) and Brad Wenstrup (R-2nd District); Warren Davidson (R-8th District) and Bob Latta (R-5th District); Joyce Beatty (D-3rd District) and Mike Carey (R-15th District); and Troy Balderson (R-12th District) and Bill Johnson (R-6th District).
House Democratic map - HB483
Very Strong Republican Districts (at or more than 20% gap) - 6
Strong Republican Districts (at or more than 10%) - 0
Very Strong Democratic Districts (at or more than 20% gap) - 2
Strong Democratic Districts (at or more than 10%) - 2
Competitive Leaning Republican Districts (under 10%) - 3
Competitive Leaning Democratic Districts (under 10%) - 2
The House Democratic map would put four sets of incumbents in the same district: Steve Chabot (R-1st District) and Brad Wenstrup (R-2nd District); Bob Gibbs (R-7th District), Troy Balderson (R-12th District) and Bill Johnson (R-6th District); Tim Ryan (D-13th District) and David Joyce (R-14th District); and Warren Davidson (R-8th District) and Jim Jordan (R-4th District).
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