Ohio Democrats on the state’s redistricting commission struck a deal with Republicans to avoid a worst-case remapping scenario in the state, a person close to the process confirmed Thursday.
The deal, which was presented by Republicans, improves the GOP’s chances in the state. But it also keeps most of the purple seats in the current map competitive, said the person close to the process, who was granted anonymity to discuss plans that are not yet public.
The agreement, however, is not yet official and still needs to be approved by a bipartisan commission by the end of the week.
The exact details of the map are not yet public. But Rep. Greg Landsman’s (D-Ohio) seat will become more red but is still winnable for Democrats, the person said, and Rep. Emilia Sykes’ (D-Ohio) district gets slightly more blue but is still in play for the GOP.
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) — who represents a district President Donald Trump won by about 7 points last year — will see her district get more favorable for Republicans, and a handful of Republican-held seats are expected to also get nominally redder.
The Rooster, an Ohio-based blog, and Punchbowl first reported parts of the deal.
To get Democrats on board, the person said, Republicans presented a more extreme 13-2 map that would have been presented by the GOP-controlled Legislature on Nov. 1 if the commission didn’t make a deal by Friday’s deadline.
The agreement still needs to be approved by the state’s redistricting commission, which has both Democratic and Republican members. The commission will meet Thursday afternoon to present the map and needs to reach bipartisan approval on it by Friday.
The deal, should it be finalized, will end a long and complicated redistricting process in the state, which was constitutionally mandated after Republicans in the Legislature passed a map after the 2020 census without bipartisan support.
By passing the map through the commission instead of through the state Legislature, Republicans avoid navigating a potential referendum that could have kept the current maps in place for the midterms. But by striking the deal, the GOP will not be able to draw their most aggressive map that could have more easily net three red-leaning seats.
Read the full article here