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With Issue 1 dead, will Ohio lawmakers pursue redistricting reform?

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (Statehouse News Bureau) — Ohio voters on Tuesday night handily rejected Issue 1—which would have thrown out the current redistricting system, in which elected officials draw the lines, by installing an independent commission.

A man in a hat holds a large teal sign reading "SIGN HERE TO BAN GERRYMANDERING."
A volunteer with the “Citizens Not Politicians” redistricting reform campaign holds his sign at a rally at the Ohio Statehouse. [Jo Ingles | Statehouse News Bureau]
Elected Republicans were some of the biggest vocal opponents of the proposal, but some of those officials have said they’d back different changes to the redistricting process. Just not the ones Issue 1 outlined.

Gov. Mike DeWine said Thursday he believes the amendment was “horrible” and would have encouraged gerrymandering, rather than eliminated it. The Associated Press projected Issue 1 failed by about eight percentage points.

Backers of the amendment have blamed its failure, in part, on politicized ballot language written by Secretary of State Frank LaRose that they say confused voters, including that it would require gerrymandering.

“It is clear that the millions of Ohioans who voted yes want to end gerrymandering. And it is also clear that those who voted no thought that they were voting to end gerrymandering,” retired Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor said in a statement early Wednesday morning.

Citizens Not Politicians, the group behind Issue 1, seriously outraised Ohio Works, the group that successfully snuffed it out. In a state that’s become a GOP-stronghold, it also faced headwinds with President-elect Donald Trump at the top of the ticket.

Before the election, DeWine was pointing to Iowa’s redistricting process as a better alternative. Iowa long ago put its nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency, similar to the Ohio Legislative Services Commission, in charge—though politicians have final say.

He’d still back lawmakers passing a similar system, though not immediately, he said Thursday.

“We need to take a deep breath and look to see how we can remove this from politics and do something that the people will have a lot of confidence in,” DeWine said.

Before the race was called Tuesday night, Attorney General Dave Yost, also a Republican, said he thinks Ohioans want “good, accountable reform.”

“I think Ohio is saying this isn’t it,” Yost said.

Meanwhile, Democrats in the Ohio Senate and House saw small gains Tuesday night under the districts drawn and unanimously approved by the Ohio Redistricting Commission in 2023, though Republicans will still maintain supermajorities in both chambers.