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Ohio Democrats Say Republicans Played by Their Own Rules When Making Gerrymandered Maps

 Liz Walters, chair of the Ohio Democratic Party
Jo Ingles
/
Statehouse News Bureau
Liz Walters, chair of the Ohio Democratic Party, says she expects lawsuits will be filed over the new maps the Ohio Redistricting Commission has adopted. She says the new maps give Republicans 81% of the seats in the General Assembly, which does not reflect the partisan breakdown of the state.

The leader of the Ohio Democratic Party is lambasting new maps for state House and Senate districts adopted in a party-line vote by the Ohio Redistricting Commission.

Ohio Democratic Party Chair Liz Walters says Republicans who dominate the commission played by their own rules. And she says they put their own political interest over the wishes of Ohioans who voted in 2015 to end partisan gerrymandering.

“We’re still analyzing the maps, and we aren’t taking any options off the table. We expect that lawsuits will be forthcoming," Walters said.

Walters says the partisan breakdown of Ohioans over the past decade is 54% Republican and 46% Democrat but says the new maps give Republicans 81% of the seats in the General Assembly.
Copyright 2021 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment. Jo started her career in Louisville, Kentucky in the mid 80’s when she helped produce a televised presidential debate for ABC News, worked for a creative services company and served as a general assignment report for a commercial radio station. In 1989, she returned back to her native Ohio to work at the WOSU Stations in Columbus where she began a long resume in public radio.