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Republican leaders express uncertainty with adopting new Ohio legislative district maps

Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) speaks to reporters at a press conference after Senate session on May 19, 2021.
Karen Kasler
/
Statehouse News Bureau

The Ohio Redistricting Commission must adopt new state House and Senate district maps by the end of the day tomorrow, but whether a new plan will actually be adopted remains unknown.

Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) says GOP mapmakers have been trying to work on a new plan to comply with the latest supreme court order on new district maps.

"The question is, can we abide by all of those principles in a 10-day period, draw a new map that a majority of the commission will support? And at the moment we don't know the answer to that question," says Huffman.

The Ohio Redistricting Commission has been ordered to adopt new district maps that reflect Ohio's partisan split among voters, which is about 54% Republican and 46% Democratic.

Previous, invalidated maps have given the GOP a larger advantage than that ratio.

Republican leaders they have not found a way of hitting that ratio without violating other constitutional requirements such as splitting municipalities or grouping incumbents.

Democratic redistricting commission members and fair district advocates have released their own proposed maps which they say would be found constitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court.

Contact Andy at achow@statehousenews.org.
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