There is nothing so \u201cnuts and bolts\u201d in politics than setting up political districts.\u00a0\u00a0What used to be a \u201cgift\u201d, knowing which areas voted one party or the other, is now an analytical science.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the old days it was \u201cinstitutional knowledge\u201d, the old \u201cpols\u201d could tell you how this street or that block voted. Now it is simple plusses and minuses in a digital world.\u00a0\u00a0Computer programs have sliced and diced our nation into almost pre-ordained chunks of votes.\u00a0\u00a0Ohio is a classic example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look, everyone knows that the cities of Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Dayton, Akron and Toledo are going to trend significantly Democratic.\u00a0\u00a0And we know that the glorious fields of corn and soybeans spread between those cities are going to be significantly Republican.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s not \u201cadvanced political thought\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Really, it\u2019s just common sense.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we used to make political districts just like we used to make apple pie.\u00a0\u00a0Sure, there\u2019s apples and there\u2019s crust.\u00a0\u00a0But what went into the apples and the crust; all of the small additions that Grandma used to put in, that\u2019s where\u00a0the real differences were made.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But today, you plug the apple, cinnamon, sugar, flour, butter all into a computer, which will then \u201cput out\u201d the \u201cperfect pie\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0And you can tell the computer what \u201cperfecter\u201d you want:\u00a0\u00a0more apple, cinnamon, or butter. The computer varies the outcome to give you the exactly the pie you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we used to cut that pie in fairly normal slices, keeping pieces in regular shapes and sizes.\u00a0\u00a0Occasionally a piece of apple filling might slip into another piece, but generally our districts were recognizable geographic areas.\u00a0\u00a0Today, in our computer driven political world, a \u201cpiece\u201d of the pie might stretch in a narrow strip from one side to the other, carefully avoiding other sections.\u00a0\u00a0It might look like a snake, or a duck, or, as it did in 1812 in Massachusetts, a salamander.\u00a0\u00a0Since that \u201csalamander\u201d was crafted by then-Governor Elbridge Gerry, it became known as a \u201cGerrymander\u201d, the term we use for pre-ordained districts today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So who controls the \u201cpie\u201d here in Ohio?\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s a committee: the Governor, the State Auditor,\u00a0\u00a0the Secretary of State, the Speaker of the House, the Senate Majority Leader, and the Senate and House Minority Leaders.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The \u201cCommission\u201d was created by a popularly voted Constitutional Amendment (2015), designed to end partisan gerrymandering, and make \u201cfair\u201d districts.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s the problem: put five Republicans and two Democrats in a room, and tell them to divide the state fairly. Right — that works about as well as you think it does. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ah, but the outcome has to be approved by the Ohio Supreme Court.\u00a0\u00a0Surely the highest Court in the state would be impartial, sticking to the spirit of non-partisanship shown in the 2015 Amendment process.\u00a0\u00a0There are seven members of the Court, six are Republicans, one a Democrat.\u00a0\u00a0One is the son of the serving Governor, another is the son\u2019s best friend.\u00a0\u00a0So, not surprisingly, the Court finds a way to \u201callow\u201d the Republican plan to become Ohio law.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s an all \u201cRed\u201d Ohio Apple pie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here’s the numbers.\u00a0\u00a0In the 2024 Presidential election, over 70% of Ohioans came out to vote.\u00a0\u00a055% voted for Donald Trump, 43% voted for Kamala Harris.\u00a0\u00a0It was a clear Republican win, especially in a state that only twelve years before voted 51% for Barack Obama to 47% for Mitt Romney.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0So let\u2019s give Ohio Republicans their due:\u00a0\u00a0Ohio is at best a 55-45 Republican state, very \u201cRed\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the United States Congress, Ohio has fifteen representatives:\u00a0\u00a0ten Republicans, and five Democrats.\u00a0\u00a0While we may vote 55-45, in Congress we are 66% Republican.\u00a0\u00a0In the State House of Representatives, there are 65 Republicans to 34 Democrats, again 66% Republican.\u00a0\u00a0And in the State Senate, Ohio has 24 Republicans to 9 Democrats, over 70% Republican.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the state legislature that 66% number is very important.\u00a0\u00a0It gives them a built-in ability to override the Governor, even a Republican Governor, who might veto an extremist Republican bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ohio remains Republican.\u00a0\u00a0A Democrat in Ohio is voting in pre-determined political districts.\u00a0\u00a0When I cast my ballot for a Democratic state representative, Senator, or US Congressman, I know my vote is cast in vain.\u00a0\u00a0My legislative districts are carefully drawn to guarantee that the Republican wins.\u00a0\u00a0The current Gerrymandering, now on computer driven steroids, is able to split my county, even my little city, in order to dilute my vote, and amplify my Republican neighbor\u2019s.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the old days, before the\u00a0\u00a0computerized \u201cRed Map Plan\u201d, districts chose their representatives. (Thanks a lot,\u00a0MSNBC\u00a0<\/em>commentator Michael Steele, former Republican National Chairman).\u00a0\u00a0Sure, Democratic areas voted for Democrats, and Republicans areas chose Republicans.\u00a0\u00a0But today, the legislators can plug their proposed districts in a computer program, and slice and dice communities to get the electorate they want.\u00a0\u00a0Voters don\u2019t chose candidates; candidates chose their voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that \u201cass backwards\u201d approach guarantees not just Republican control, but Republicans that find it totally unnecessary to even negotiate with their Democratic colleagues.\u00a0\u00a0In fact, it encourages extremism, because the \u201creal contests\u201d aren\u2019t in the general election.\u00a0\u00a0The determining election is the primary, between Republicans, where the votes are dominated by the extremists in the Party.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0So when a state legislator proposes a law to ban humans from marrying Artificial Intelligence computers, or pre-determines for high school students that a \u201csuccessful life\u201d requires jobs, marriage, then family (not making that up), both have a great opportunity to become our laws.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n And,\u00a0\u00a0for my Democratic friends:\u00a0\u00a0it all sounds like doom and gloom \u2013 time to move out of state.\u00a0\u00a0There is one ray of sunshine.\u00a0\u00a0Neither political party can Gerrymander the entire state.\u00a0\u00a0On the re-districting commission, there are three seats elected statewide.\u00a0\u00a0Change the Governor, Auditor and Secretary of State, and Democrats can literally change our world.\u00a0\u00a0Oh, and changing the Ohio Supreme Court (also statewide election) would help too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"