COLUMBUS, Ohio — On Tuesday, Republican lawmakers in the Ohio Senate will introduce a new congressional map proposal and could vote on it as early as Wednesday.


What You Need To Know

  • The Ohio Senate will introduce a new congressional map proposal Tuesday

  • The Senate could vote on it as early as Wednesday

  • In order for the map to pass the legislature and take effect before the March 4 congressional filing deadline, it will need a two-thirds majority in each chamber

"It would be one thing if we already had the maps to analyze and voters could be showing up to discuss their feelings about the maps. There's just really not enough time for the voters to really follow this process and engage and that's a problem," said Jen Miller, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio. 

Republicans were not willing to talk Monday about the specifics of the plan.

In order for the map to pass the legislature and take effect before the March 4 congressional filing deadline, it will need a two-thirds majority in each chamber.​ While Republicans have the numbers to do it themselves in the Senate, they are two votes short in the House.

"Given that there have been no discussions so far or indication what is in the maps, I think I fully anticipate that this will likely not garner any democratic support," said Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington.

If that is the case, the process would shift to the Ohio Redistricting Commission next week. The commission will then have its own 30-day deadline.

"I always remain an optimist and committed to the work necessary to achieve that. So we will let the process play out. We'll see what happens,” said Russo. “But I can tell you that we are committed, we being myself and Senator Sykes, we are committed to getting to a bipartisan map that does not unduly favor one political party.”

The Ohio Supreme Court previously rejected a four-year map Republican lawmakers passed in November that would have favored them in at least 12 of 15 congressional districts. But this time around, Democrats in the House and Senate say a four-year map is not possible even if the commission does not get support from both democrats.

“It is important that the Constitutional Amendment passed by voters is not misrepresented by a false narrative promoted by special interest groups interested in clouding the process,” Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said in a statement. “If needed, the redistricting commission may send the Supreme Court a map to review based on a simple majority vote, because at this point we are at the end of the exercise, not the beginning.”

Last week, Fair Districts Ohio, a non-partisan coalition of redistricting advocates, released a “Model Congressional Map” that would create eight Republican and seven Democratic districts.

That coincides with the 54-46% breakdown of how Ohioans have voted the last 10 years.​

"One of the things that we hear over and over again by those who do the gerrymandering is that it's impossible to actually make a fair map,” said Miller. “But we see that it is. Every day Ohioans have submitted dozens of maps that should be considered that are more constitutional than what has already been adopted.”