COLUMBUS — A divided Ohio Supreme Court has issued an extraordinary fourth rebuke of the state’s Republican-controlled mapmaking panel for unconstitutionally gerrymandering Statehouse maps to benefit their party.
In a 4-3 ruling, the court ordered the embattled and defiant Ohio Redistricting Commission to reconvene and draw a constitutionally compliant plan by May 6.
Primaries in Ohio House and Senate races have already been called off for the May 3 primary because of the dispute but early voting is already underway and the state’s top elections official hopes Ohioans will still cast their ballots.
“The court’s latest ruling has no impact on that election at all, and contests for statewide, congressional, and local offices and issues will proceed as scheduled. This ruling only impacts state legislative and political party central committee contests, which have yet to be scheduled,” Secretary of State Frank LaRose said.
Primary races for General Assembly seats may be decided in August, prior to the deadline for nominating petitions in nonpartisan races.
Democrats and voting rights groups approved of the court’s decision and blasted the map-making panel.
“This ruling vindicates the rights of Ohio voters who have been utterly betrayed by certain Republican commissioners in four rounds of map-drawing. The fight for fair maps has been long and fraught, but we won’t give up, no matter how many times the majority Commissioners try to subvert democracy for their own partisan gain,” said House Minority Leader and Redistricting Commission member Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington), who favors using a plan previously put forward by independent map drawers.
“Ohio voters repudiated gerrymandering and put good rules in the Ohio Constitution to ensure fair maps going forward. We expect the members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission to abide by those rules, follow the Ohio Constitution, and obey the orders of the Ohio Supreme Court.” Catherin Turcer, executive director of the progressive-leaning group Common Cause Ohio, wrote in a statement.
A federal court had signaled its intention to intervene to resolve the monthslong stalemate between the commission and the court if a solution wasn’t reached by Wednesday.
GOP leaders in Ohio try to block Trump endorsement of Vance
Dozens of Republican leaders in Ohio are mounting a last-minute effort to urge former President Donald Trump not to endorse JD Vance in the crowded upcoming primary for an open Senate seat.
A draft letter circulating among Republicans and obtained by The Associated Press calls on Trump to remain neutral in the race.
It was written following news reports that Trump was going to endorse Vance during a campaign rally in Delaware later this month.
The letter is a sign of anxiety among some Republicans about which candidate Trump may pick in advance of the state’s May 3 primary.
Vance has come under scrutiny from some of Trump’s most loyal supporters for criticizing the former president in the past.
DeWine aims to overcome anger in party base
Ohio’s Republican governor won high marks early in the pandemic with his stay-at-home mandates.
But now Mike DeWine is facing backlash for those moves from his party’s far-right faithful as he runs for a second term.
DeWine remains the favorite to emerge from a May 3 primary that will test just how much to the right Ohio has shifted.
He faces a challenge from three lesser-known conservatives who are trying to tap into the frustration over his handling of the pandemic.
Recent polls show DeWine in what appears to be a comfortable position heading into the primary.
Man blaming Trump’s ‘orders’ for riot actions found guilty
A Columbus man who testified that he was “following presidential orders” from Donald Trump when he stormed the U.S. Capitol has been convicted of obstructing Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.
A federal jury on Thursday also found Dustin Byron Thompson, 38, guilty of stealing a coat rack from an office inside the Capitol during the riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
An exterminator who lost his job during the COVID-19 pandemic, Thompson was the first Capitol riot defendant to mount a trial defense blaming Trump and members of his inner circle for the insurrection.