TOLEDO – This summer, congressional redistricting consumed national political debate. It all began in Texas after President Trump proposed that state officials draw new districts with the objective of helping Republicans gain more House seats in 2026’s midterms – or at least preserve their majority. In response, Texas lawmakers produced, and the governor signed into law, a congressional map that adds about five Republican-leaning districts.
In response, lawmakers in California redrew that state’s congressional map. Their aim was to counterbalance Texas’ new map by creating five more Democrat-leaning districts. However, in contrast to Texas’ redistricting effort, voters in California must first approve this map before it can be used in next year’s midterm elections. They will have their say on Proposition 50 during a special election this November.
In the time since, Missouri has also undertaken a mid-decade redistricting effort, which could flip one of the state’s two Democratic House seats. Typically, states redraw their congressional map every ten years, when new census data becomes available, making the mid-decade redistricting that has occurred in recent months an abnormality.
Ohio is also in a mid-decade redistricting process at the moment – but for a completely different reason than the aforementioned states. As Ohio Capital Journal Reporter Susan Tebben explained in a July Jaden Jefferson Reports interview, “the last two maps [Ohio lawmakers produced] did not have bipartisan support, and under the rules that we have in the state, the maps have to have bipartisan support to last ten years.”
Tebben noted that both of those maps were struck down by the Ohio Supreme Court for being “unduly partisan.” The latter of the two – despite the court’s ruling – had been able to be used anyway.
That brings us to where things stand now. The Ohio General Assembly is made up of two chambers: the state House and Senate. The GOP has a supermajority in both. The General Assembly had a Sept. 30 deadline to pass a congressional map, requiring support from three-fifths of members in each chamber. But that didn’t happen. Instead, as the Ohio Capital Journal reports, Republican lawmakers opted to “kick the process over to the Ohio Redistricting Commission.”
Per Ohio Senate Democrats, “the seven-member Ohio Redistricting Commission must adopt a plan by the end of October, with support from both Democrats on the ORC.” If the state’s redistricting commission isn’t able to pass a map, responsibility returns to the Republican-controlled state legislature to pass one, which – by law – would have to be by the end of November. At that point, it would need only a simple majority to do so.
The Ohio Redistricting Commission is composed of five Republicans and two Democrats. Among the Republicans are Gov. Mike DeWine, Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Auditor Keith Faber, State Senator Jane Timken, and State Representative Brian Stewart. The commission’s two Democrats are State Senate Minority Leader Nicki Antonio and State House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn.
The Ohio Redistricting Commission itself has been a story, with some in the state wanting it to be replaced. In 2024, advocates were able to put a proposal on the ballot – known as Issue 1 – which, had it been passed, would have created a citizen redistricting commission.
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