“Confusing Ohioans was not such a bad strategy.”

Yes, you read that right. These shockingly cynical words from Ohio’s state GOP chair reveal the true agenda of Ohio Republicans: misleading voters into rejecting reforms that would make state electoral maps fair. 

That is exactly what they did last fall to defeat a ballot measure that would have created a nonpartisan redistricting commission. Now, Ohioans are looking ahead to a redraw of Ohio’s congressional maps later this year — using the same-old extreme partisan approach.

As infuriating as the deceptive practices of the state GOP have been, the backstory of Ohio’s electoral map saga is even more outrageous. Take a couple minutes to keep reading and see why we must keep fighting for fair maps in Ohio and across the country. But first! Donate to help us stop Republicans’ ongoing efforts to gerrymander electoral maps and create an unfair political advantage.

Back in 2015, Ohio voters passed a constitutional amendment to create the Ohio Redistricting Commission to draw new maps. It took until 2021 for the Republican-led Commission to meet for the first time — and over the next two years, their proposed state legislative and congressional maps were struck down in the courts a staggering seven times.

During the 2022 election, the Republican-led legislature forced Ohio to use unconstitutional maps that the Ohio Supreme Court had already overturned for unduly favoring Republicans. 

Then, during last November’s election, Ohio voters had an opportunity to create a citizen-led, nonpartisan redistricting commission. But Republicans did everything they could to sabotage the ballot initiative.

They even resorted to trickery in the phrasing that’d appear on official ballots! Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose wrote a description of the measure and pushed it through along party lines, claiming that Issue 1 would “establish a new taxpayer-funded commission of appointees required to gerrymander the boundaries of state legislative and congressional districts.”

The problem was, the actual proposal said Issue 1 would "ban partisan gerrymandering." Republicans knew they couldn’t win by telling the truth, so they resorted to bald-faced lies. In the end, Republicans successfully defeated Issue 1 in a close race — and now we must continue the fight for fair maps in Ohio when it comes time to redraw the map again this year.

The good news is, in spite of the well-funded confusion Republicans sowed around this issue last year, we came extremely close to defeating the gerrymanderers at the ballot box. Ohio voters are getting wise to their antics. This year, we need all eyes on this process to ensure that they don’t get away with an even more skewed map.

Right now any contribution you can make will help fuel the fight for fair maps in Ohio across the U.S. Please donate today!

We’ll keep you posted on further developments in Ohio — stay tuned!

- The NDRC Team

DONATE

Since 2017, the NDRC has executed a comprehensive redistricting strategy that shifts the redistricting power, creating fair districts where Democrats can compete. Our victories have been made possible by our strong community of grassroots supporters.

MAKE A DONATION

If you want to receive periodic updates from the NDRC on our fight for fair maps, text MAPS to 36787. Text HELP for help, STOP to end. Msg & Data rates may apply. Privacy Policy. We know we send a lot of emails, but we think it's important to keep you updated with the latest information on Republican gerrymandering and voter suppression and how we're fighting back -- regardless of whether you choose to donate. Click here to make a donation. Every dollar you give will go toward our fight to end gerrymandering and voter suppression.