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Central Ohio teen tries his hand at mapmaking as lawmakers continue to debate new maps

 Gov. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), a member of the Ohio Redistricting Commission, talks to 14 year old Christopher Brown and his father Chris Brown at the Commission's meeting on March 27, 2022.
Karen Kasler
/
Statehouse News Bureau
Gov. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), a member of the Ohio Redistricting Commission, talks to 14 year old Christopher Brown and his father Chris Brown at the Commission's meeting on March 27, 2022.

Though the redistricting saga has dragged on for months, many Ohioans are still engaged because of the impact on public policy that comes from the elections based on those maps.

And among those watching carefully is a central Ohio freshman who’s been watching more carefully than the average teenager.

14-year-old Christopher Brown of Upper Arlington and his dad spent their Sunday at the Ohio Redistricting Commission meeting, watching a presentation from its outside mapmakers.

Brown submitted his own set of maps a few weeks ago.

“I've been interested in this process, and I looked at the constitutional that," Brown said. "While I know I definitely cannot make a map that can be used. It's interesting to see what I can do and look at how the process works and all that.”

Brown said he did maps that showed partisan splits but also even totals of residents in each: “A bit of both. It's proportional, though.”

And as for his view of the whole process – he speaks for a lot of people who’ve been watching.

“I hope they have a map that finally it's going to be over.”

 Christopher Brown and his father Chris Brown wait for the Ohio Redistricting Commission meeting to start on Sunday, March 27, 2022.
Karen Kasler
/
Statehouse News Bureau
Christopher Brown and his father Chris Brown wait for the Ohio Redistricting Commission meeting to start on Sunday, March 27, 2022.

The Ohio Supreme Court set a deadline of Monday for new legislative maps, so they can be submitted on Tuesday to the court for review.

Copyright 2022 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.

Karen is a lifelong Ohioan who has served as news director at WCBE-FM, assignment editor/overnight anchor at WBNS-TV, and afternoon drive anchor/assignment editor in WTAM-AM in Cleveland. In addition to her daily reporting for Ohio’s public radio stations, she’s reported for NPR, the BBC, ABC Radio News and other news outlets. She hosts and produces the Statehouse News Bureau’s weekly TV show “The State of Ohio”, which airs on PBS stations statewide. She’s also a frequent guest on WOSU TV’s “Columbus on the Record”, a regular panelist on “The Sound of Ideas” on ideastream in Cleveland, appeared on the inaugural edition of “Face the State” on WBNS-TV and occasionally reports for “PBS Newshour”. She’s often called to moderate debates, including the Columbus Metropolitan Club’s Issue 3/legal marijuana debate and its pre-primary mayoral debate, and the City Club of Cleveland’s US Senate debate in 2012.