Fair Districts Update - Ohio's New Gerrymandered Map

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Fair Districts Update – Ohio’s New Gerrymandered Map

Nov 4, 2025

Fair Redistricting & Ending Gerrymandering

The Ohio Redistricting Commission (ORC) held hearings on October 30 and 31 – the last possible days for the Commission to pass a bipartisan map before the process would return to the General Assembly.

Redistricting Advocate Mike Ahern channeling Arnold at the ORC hearing.

After what must have been extensive secret negotiations, Rs and Ds on the Commission passed a bipartisan map unanimously on Friday, October 31st.

What this means is that:

This is the final US Congressional map for elections in 2026, 2028, and 2030. A new map will be drawn after the census in 2030 and redistricting in 2031.
The map is 12-3 (12 Republican leaning seats and 3 Democratic) but there are a couple of districts where Democratic incumbents might be able to best Republican challengers.
Because this map was passed by the Commission and not the General Assembly, we cannot gather signatures to mount a referendum challenge against it.

You can take a closer look at the map on Dave’s Redistricting app. Here are some quick notes about the map:

Congressional District 15 (Mike Carey’s district) is sprawling and includes weirdly shaped parts of Franklin, Clark, and Miami Counties.
Congressional District 13 is now solidly Democratic. On Nov. 2, Republican Kevin Coughlin withdrew from his race against Emilia Sykes.
Congressional District 9 ( Marcy Kaptur’s district) is more solidly Republican.
The map divides smaller cities such as Mansfield and Wooster.
Congressional District 1 (Greg Landsman’s district) now scoops up sections of Hamilton County and adds Warren and Clinton Counties.
The map scores so much lower on all the important measures such as compactness than maps created by citizen mapmakers
It’s a classic and egregious gerrymander that harms every Ohioan
Remember, fair maps are easier to draw!

It is fascinating but stomach-churning to read accounts about what was behind the bipartisan agreement and which party gained or lost more than expected. But no matter where you come down on whether or not this was a “good” or “bad” deal for Rs or Ds – the process used to create this map was totally unconstitutional.

The redistricting rules that became part of the Ohio Constitution after the successful 2018 ballot measure require transparency, meaningful public participation, and maps that deliver representational fairness to Ohio voters.

The map passed by the ORC last Friday didn’t follow any of those rules – and on that basis alone should be declared illegal and invalid. We’ll see what happens in the next few weeks. The make-up of the Ohio Supreme Court has shifted and cannot be counted upon to uphold the law when it comes to requiring fair maps.

If all this sounds depressing, well, it is – at least for now. One thing you can say about redistricting advocates in Ohio: we don’t give up easily! That spirit of fight was evident in Mike’s t-shirt and the clipboards many were holding at the hearing. We are nothing if not determined to come back and fight another day for fair maps and fair voting districts.

Please join us on line for the Fair Districts Volunteer Huddle on Wednesday, November 12 at 6pm to discuss the map, the manoeuvers, and what’s next. Register HERE.

Note: Thank you to everyone who submitted and delivered testimony, showed up at the hearing, or watched on the Ohio Channel. The Commissioners may have ignored you, but we felt the power and determination of Ohio’s anti-gerrymandering advocates! An astonishing 185 pieces of testimony were submitted/delivered Thursday and Friday – access them all at the ORC website, HERE. And in the run up to the final day, advocates in purple “Where’s the Map?” shirts flooded the Statehouse and packed the hearings. They also delivered Halloween candy labeled “Don’t be a trickster. Show us the map!” to folks on the Commission and at the Statehouse.

Three pieces of testimony submitted by Fair Districts partners are noted below:

Please join us on November 12 at the Huddle.