Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Congressional Districts


There has been lots of attention focused on Ohio's re-drawn congressional districts. The Ohio Republicans in power made certain that their latest scheme would guarantee the chance for them to never lose power.  Now there is some talk about looking at those districts and including input from a larger group of people.

PewStates:

Republicans controlled the redrawing of legislative and congressional district lines in Ohio over the last two years and, as the 2012 elections proved, that power paid off. Sometime soon, though, Ohio Republicans may help ensure that they never have that power again.

The Ohio Senate voted 32 to 1 in December to create a new commission to draw legislative and congressional districts. Under the plan, bipartisanship would be required. Maps would need five votes on the seven-member commission to pass, including at least one vote from the commission’s minority party.  “It seems we have as much bipartisan momentum to head in the same direction as we ever have,” says Secretary of State Jon Husted, a Republican and longtime supporter of redistricting changes.

Ironically, one reason for that momentum, supporters say, is that it’s the longest possible time before the changes would have any effect. Ohio won’t redistrict again until after the 2020 census....

We'll see how fast the Ohio Republicans move to the table to fix this.