Ohio's congressional districts explained

Ohio is divided into 15 congressional districts, each represented by a member of the United States House of Representatives. After the 2010 census, Ohio, which up until then had 18 districts, lost two House seats due to slow population growth compared to the national average,[1] and a new map was signed into law on September 26, 2011. Starting in the 2022 midterms, per the 2020 United States census, Ohio lost its 16th congressional seat, ending up with its current 15 districts.[2]

Current districts and representatives

The following table is a list of members of the United States House delegation from Ohio, their terms, their district boundaries, and the district political ratings according to the CPVI. The delegation in the 118th United States Congress has a total of 15 members, with 10 Republicans and 5 Democrats.

Current U.S. representatives from Ohio
DistrictMember
[3]
Partydata-sort-type="date" Incumbent sincedata-sort-type="number" CPVI
[4]
District map
data-sort-value="Landsman, Greg"
Greg Landsman
January 3, 2023
data-sort-value="Taylor, Dave"
Dave Taylor
January 3, 2025
data-sort-value="Beatty, Joyce"
Joyce Beatty
January 3, 2013
data-sort-value="Jordan, Jim"
Jim Jordan
January 3, 2007
data-sort-value="Latta, Bob"
Bob Latta
December 11, 2007
data-sort-value="Rulli, Michael"
Michael Rulli
June 11, 2024
data-sort-value="Miller, Max"
Max Miller
January 3, 2023
data-sort-value="Davidson, Warren"
Warren Davidson
June 7, 2016
data-sort-value="Kaptur, Marcy"
Marcy Kaptur
January 3, 1983
data-sort-value="Turner, Mike"
Mike Turner
January 3, 2003
data-sort-value="Brown, Shontel"
Shontel Brown
November 4, 2021
data-sort-value="Balderson, Troy"
Troy Balderson
September 5, 2018
data-sort-value="Sykes, Emilia"
Emilia Sykes
January 3, 2023
data-sort-value="Joyce, David"
Dave Joyce
January 3, 2013
data-sort-value="Carey, Mike"
Mike Carey
November 4, 2021

Historical district boundaries

Obsolete districts

Redistricting challenges

2019 challenge

On May 3, 2019, a three-judge panel from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio declared Ohio's 2012 district map contrary to Article One of the United States Constitution, as "an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander" and ordered "the enactment of a constitutionally viable replacement" prior to the 2020 elections.[5] An appeal made to the U.S. Supreme Court resulted in the order to redraw the map being nullified.[6]

2022 redistricting

See also: 2020 United States redistricting cycle. On November 17, 2021, after lengthy discussions, a new map was passed by the Ohio House of Representatives 55-36, along party lines, with no Democrat voting in favor of the map.[7] The map was sent to Governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine, where he accepted it 3 days later on November 20.[8]

The map was controversial, with Democrats accuse the map of being purposefully designed to benefit Republicans. By December 7, 2021, six lawsuits had been filed against the new 15-seat congressional map, citing it as "racially discriminatory" and a partisan gerrymander. The proposed map favored Republican to Democratic districts by a 12-3 margin.[9]

On January 14, 2022, the Ohio Supreme Court declared the map a partisan gerrymander, violating Article XIX of the Constitution of Ohio, in a 4-3 decision. The Ohio General Assembly had 30 days to draw a new map, but declined to do so, passing the buck to the same 7-member political Ohio Redistricting Commission in charge of Ohio's contentious legislative redistricting.[10]

On March 2, 2022, the Ohio Redistricting Commission adopted a second Congressional map along party lines. [11] In the midst of ensuing legal maneuvers over this map, Ohio's 2022 primary for Congressional seats was held as scheduled on May 3, 2022, though this election did not include state legislative races, as a third set of statehouse map had been rejected on March 16, 2022 by the Ohio Supreme Court.[12] On July 19, 2022, the Ohio Supreme Court, again on a bitterly divided 4-3 vote, ruled that the second Congressional map was also a partisan gerrymander and ordered a redraw within 30 days, but the 2022 general election was allowed to proceed on this invalidated map[13] . Neither the state legislature nor the Ohio Redistricting Commission responded to the court's order to redraw the map.

In the 2022 general election, Republicans won the seat occupied by the retiring Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor, swinging the court toward the faction that had dissented from the earlier opinions.[14] In response, the lawsuits over the second Congressional map were dropped, as the litigants feared the new court would permit an even greater gerrymander than the map enacted on March 2, 2022.[15] As that map did not have bipartisan support, per Ohio Constitution Article XIX it is a four-year map that must be redrawn prior to the 2026 elections.[16] A 2024 citizen ballot initiative spearheaded by O'Connor, proposing to wrest legislative and Congressional redistricting power away from Ohio politicians into a citizen redistricting commission and enforce strict proportionality failed essentially along party lines, based on analysis of county- and precinct-level voting results on the issue relative to U.S. Presidential voting.[17] [18]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Wang. Robert. Census costs Ohio two seats in Congress. 4 November 2015. The Canton Repository. 2010-12-21.
  2. News: Census Bureau announces 331 million people in US, Texas will add two congressional seats. CNN. Merica. Dan. Stark. Liz. April 26, 2021. April 26, 2021.
  3. Web site: Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. 2022-01-06. clerk.house.gov.
  4. Web site: July 12, 2022 . 2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List. January 5, 2023. The Cook Political Report.
  5. News: Rosenberg . Gabe . Federal Court Throws Out Ohio's Congressional Map . 5 May 2019 . National Public Radio (NPR) . May 3, 2019.
  6. News: U.S. Supreme Court tosses challenge to Republican-drawn Ohio congressional maps. 2019-10-08. Reuters. 2020-04-04. en.
  7. Web site: Balmert. Jessie. Ohio Republicans propose congressional district maps advantaging the GOP. See them here. 2021-11-23. The Columbus Dispatch. en-US.
  8. Web site: Ohio governor signs new congressional district map into law. 2021-11-23. ABC News. en.
  9. News: Federal lawsuit says Ohio’s new state legislative, congressional maps discriminate against Black voters. cleveland.com. December 7, 2021.
  10. News: Uniss. Kyle Anne. January 14, 2022. Ohio Supreme Court invalidates GOP-drawn congressional districts. Courthouse News Service. live. January 16, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220116022218/https://www.courthousenews.com/ohio-supreme-court-invalidates-gop-drawn-congressional-districts/. January 16, 2022.
  11. Web site: 2022-03-02 . Redistricting commission adopts Ohio congressional district map over objections by Democrats . 2024-12-27 . The Statehouse News Bureau . en.
  12. Web site: Ohio Supreme Court March 16, 2022 ruling on state legislative maps. Scribd. March 16, 2022. Andy Chow. March 18, 2022.
  13. Web site: Court Invalidates Second Congressional Map . 2024-12-27 . www.courtnewsohio.gov . en.
  14. Web site: Ohio Supreme Court elections, 2022 . 2024-12-27 . Ballotpedia . en.
  15. Web site: 2023-09-05 . Voting rights groups move to dismiss their lawsuit challenging gerrymandered Ohio congressional map . 2024-12-27 . PBS News . en-us.
  16. Web site: Article XIX, Section 1 - Ohio Constitution Ohio Laws . 2024-12-27 . codes.ohio.gov.
  17. Web site: Tebben . Susan . 2024-11-06 . Ohio Issue 1 defeat brings praise from conservatives, concern from advocates and Dems • Ohio Capital Journal . 2024-12-27 . Ohio Capital Journal . en-US.
  18. Web site: 2024 Official Election Results . 2024-12-27 . www.ohiosos.gov . en-US.