The Gerrymander Wins the Day
When I ran for State Representative in 2018, I became very familiar with the ways of OHROC. Of course, that stands for the Ohio House Republican Organizing Committee for short. I worked closely with the Ohio House Democratic Caucus and they were a swell group of people making the best of a very bad situation. The Republican State Representatives that make up OHROC run our state government with an iron fist along with an unflinching taste for power and money. They are also the ones who get to draw these maps, now with the oversight of 5 Republicans and 2 Democrats. This is because in 2018, voters passed Issue 1 which was a constitutional amendment to combat gerrymandering which ultimately ended up being a huge sham and simply allowed the Republicans to gerrymander our state every 4 years instead of every 10!
On a statewide level, Ohioans typically vote 45% for Democrats and 55% for Republicans, but our state legislature does not reflect the makeup due to severe gerrymandering. The Ohio House is currently made up 64 Republicans and only 35 Democrats. Democrats are essentially outnumbered 2:1 in the Ohio House, but that number has declined since the last time these maps were drawn. Some Democrats, like Jessica Miranda, were able to overcome the gerrymander by actually upsetting their Republican opponents due to changing demographics in the suburbs. Republicans need 66 seats to have a veto-proof majority, something they had in the early-to-mid 2010s but now do not have. Coincidentally enough, the maps the Republicans have presented will allow them to have 67 Republican seats and Democrats will have 32, giving them power to veto the Governor whenever they want. This is why Governor Mike DeWine is so afraid of those legislators on his far-right flank, because they can pick and choose which legislation he signs or does not sign. This is why we saw DeWine go from a strong leader during the beginning of the pandemic to where he is at now: a spineless old man who crumbled under the pressure because of anti-vaxxer State Reps like Nino Vitale.
Zeroing in on Hamilton County, it’s safe to say that this county has been trending bluer over the past ten years. Democrats have taken control of everything from County Government, to City Hall and are even close to completely taking over our county’s judicial system. In terms of our representation to the Ohio State House, we had 7 State Reps given to us in 2010 due to our population and the new maps continue to have us at 7. There are 3 Republicans and 4 Democrats representing Hamilton County in Columbus at the State House. For the State Senate, we have one Republican and one Democrat. With the current map being proposed for the 2020s, we would keep the 1 Dem and 1 Republican State Senator and we would most likely go to 4 Republican State Reps and decrease to 3 Democrat State Reps.
This is because these ruthless, power-hungry corrupt public servants drew Jessica Miranda out of her State House district. Currently, Jessica represents Ohio’s 28th State House District which encompasses places like Montgomery, Reading, Springdale and her home in Forest Park. Funny enough, the 28th district was redrawn to exclude Forest Park and plopped it right into the 29th district which is connected to more rural parts of our county that overwhelmingly vote for Republicans. What they did to Jessica Miranda is disgusting, especially considering how good of a person she actually is and how effective she is at connecting with voters and actually getting stuff done.
One thing of interest to me is that the new maps have both Seitz and Abrams living in the new 30th district. Seitz lives in Green Township which is currently the 30th district and Abrams lives in Harrison which is currently the 29th district. But if these maps stand, which one of them is going to blink first? Is this an attempt by the Ohio House Republicans to force Seitz into retirement? Will one of them move to the newly drawn 29th district? It’s unlikely, but will one of them challenge Lou Blessing for the State Senate seat?
For me personally, I’d get a new State Representative! Currently, my State Rep is Bill Seitz, the corrupt old man that has never met a corporate lobbyist he didn’t like. He was also the same person I ran against in 2018; the district in its current state is a portion of West Price Hill, Delhi Township, Cheviot and Green Township. I did well in my own neighborhood of West Price Hill and didn’t do too bad in Cheviot either. But nobody with a D next to their name usually does well in Green or Delhi Townships. But alas, the new maps our overlords have drawn us have West Price Hill included in a new district that includes part of the City of Cincinnati as well as Cheviot and other places like Addyston, North Bend and Cleves. Could we see a possible second Clayton Adams for State Rep campaign? It sure is something to consider but I do enjoy my job as a teacher and enjoy the privacy as a private citizen, but it’s something that I will be pondering. Let’s wait and see if these new maps end up being the final version, but I doubt much will change. Until next time, faithful readers!