The Shape of Things: OH-01

The district: Ohio's 1st Congressional District cracks apart left-leaning Cincinnati and borders both Kentucky and Indiana. According to FiveThirtyEight, the district has a 93.1 percent chance of being represented by a Republican.

Who represents it?

Steve Chabot. This congressman is extreme and partisan -- full stop. Despite overwhelming and bipartisan support for the USPS, Chabot recently voted against full funding the essential service. His positions, especially during a global pandemic, are gaining groans even from members of his family.

Chabot's own sister blasted the congressman on Facebook after he voted against the HEROES Act, which would fund the Postal Service and vote-by-mail infrastructure. We're going to explain why this matters -- but first, we want to explain why we send these emails.

Our Shape of Things series raises awareness about the barriers to political representation in local communities. Our monthly donors support our work in all of our target states and receive fewer fundraising emails. Will you consider adopting OH-01 with a recurring donation of any amount? >>> [link removed]

We've been asking thousands of supporters to urge their representatives to pass legislation like the HEROES Act because we know just how important it is to have safe and accessible voting as we enter the last round of elections ahead of redistricting.

Yet, extreme politicians in gerrymandered states like Ohio voted against legislation to protect our elections. Chabot would rather enable the sabotage of the USPS just to prevent people from voting. Because keeping people from the ballot box this year is a key step toward his minority political party clinging onto its majority power beyond 2020. The time to put an end to anti-democratic schemes like these is now.

How did we get here?

After the 2010 midterm elections, politicians in Ohio drowned out the will of the voters in their state when they gerrymandered maps to entrench themselves in power without true accountability by all of their constituents.

Following the last redistricting process, a report called "The Elephant in the Room" revealed that GOP operatives were "making key recommendations on how to configure Ohio's new congressional districts out of public view." The result? A map that now heavily favors Republican candidates in 12 of the 16 districts.

What's next for Ohio?

Thankfully, voters overwhelmingly supported a redistricting reform in 2018 that overhauls how the redistricting process will work -- including a requirement of getting bipartisan legislative support for any 10-year map -- and new criteria that the maps have to meet to be upheld. Our ability to get fair maps is on the ballot this year for Ohio, which brings us to our next point.

The 2020 elections will determine who gets to draw the maps in 2021. The state legislators who Ohioans elect this year will be in charge of drawing their new maps next year that will be in place for the foreseeable future. And the state Supreme Court justices who are elected in 2020 will be some of the only people who can judge whether an Ohio map is a partisan gerrymander.

We need to elect fair maps champions in 2020 who will uphold a transparent redistricting process and give Ohioans the fair maps they deserve. If we work hard and use every tool at our disposal, we can end map manipulation and return our government to the people. But we can't do it alone.

Ohio is one of All On The Line's target states because we know action is needed to achieve fair maps there. Otherwise, folks like Steve Chabot will continue to represent gerrymandered districts and ignore the will of the people. His kind of extremism doesn't belong anywhere, especially not in the halls of Congress.

To restore fairness in districts like OH-01, we must fund our plans with sustained donations. Can you help our efforts in OH-01 and districts like it with a recurring contribution? >>> [link removed]




All On The Line is the grassroots advocacy campaign supported by the National Redistricting Action Fund. Support our work to end gerrymandering.

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