Gerrymandering in Ohio is unfair
Letter to the Editor,
The news of Ohio Gov. DeWine signing the highly gerrymandered congressional redistricting bill means fellow Democrats such as myself will be denied their fair representation in the U.S. House of Representatives again. The same thing happened in 2012, but this time it’s worse. Instead of a 16-4 advantage for Republicans, Democrats in Ohio will now be assured only two congressional seats with 13 seats leaning or solidly Republican.
Given the overall voting split in statewide elections in the past 10 years of 53% Republican vs. 46% Democratic, that is an outrage. The Republican gerrymander would give Ohio’s Republicans 85% of Ohio’s votes in the U.S. House. Not one Democrat in the Ohio legislature voted for it.
This is a blatant disregard of fair play and the 2018 Congressional Redistricting Procedures Amendment, which called for transparency and ending the partisan process of drawing Congressional maps — 75% of Ohioans voted “yes” on that citizen referendum. The recently passed Republican map is clearly unconstitutional and will face the justices in the Ohio Supreme Court. The Republicans all know this yet press ahead shamelessly in their quest for total dominance in Ohio politics.
As a lifelong resident of Ohio and Wayne County and political minority in my community, I have friendly relations with fellow citizens of the opposite party, with good faith on both sides. The political greed of legislative Republicans may threaten that and cast a long, dark shadow over us all. We are so much better than this! Can we find a way forward in fair representation that does not turn us one against the other?
Mady Noble
Wooster
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