The first 2023 scheduled meeting of the Ohio Redistricting Commission is in flux after Attorney General Dave Yost sent a letter on Monday to the commission stating that only Governor Mike DeWine has the authority to reconvene them.
This follows the two co-chairs of the commission, State Representative Jeff LaRe (R-Fairfield County) and Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood), announcing last week that the panel would meet on September 13th to start the process of drawing new state legislative maps.
According to Yost (pictured above), the co-chairs do not have the constitutional authority to schedule the meeting. According to his interpretation of the Ohio Constitution, Yost said that only Governor DeWine has the authority to call a special commission back together after the Ohio Supreme Court rejects a map adopted by the commission.
Last year, the Ohio Supreme Court rejected maps produced by Ohio’s redistricting commission on numerous occasions.
The Ohio Supreme Court rejected the more recent two congressional maps created by Republicans in July of 2022. Ohio used the earlier GOP-designed map for its 2022 primary and won’t use an updated one until 2024. The redistricting commission redraws the legislative and congressional maps every 10 years to reflect demographic changes following the U.S. Census.
Republican state legislators appealed the Supreme Court ruling on congressional redistricting to the U.S. Supreme Court in October.
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a summary judgment, a decision made without listening to oral arguments, reversing the Ohio Supreme Court’s judgment from last July that the congressional districting process unfairly favored the Republican Party. The Court’s ruling means new boundaries need to be drawn for next year’s legislative elections.
“Given that the Commission must pass a new General Assembly map for 2024, the Commission must be reconstituted with the Governor convening the first meeting of the reconstituted Commission,” Yost said.
Spokesperson for DeWine, Dan Tierney told The Ohio Star that it’s still too early to know if DeWine will change the date of the first Commission meeting as a result of Yost’s letter.
“Too early to determine if the date will be changed as a result of this development. Our office will announce a formal date in the near future,” Tierney told The Star.
According to Antonio, she and LaRe followed past practice, calling for the commission to reconvene.
“I’m glad that Representative LaRe and I got the ball rolling to schedule the first meeting of the Ohio Redistricting Commission. We followed past practice by calling for the Ohio Redistricting Commission to meet on September 13th,” Antonio said.
The Ohio Star contacted LaRe for comment on Yost’s letter but did not receive a reply before press time.
Other members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission include DeWine, Secretary of State Frank LaRose, State Auditor Keith Faber, Senate Majority Whip Rob McColley (R-Napoleon), and House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington).
The Commission said it hopes to have a legislative district plan in place by December 20th, the deadline for candidates to file for the March 19, 2024, primary election.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star, The Star News Network, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Dave Yost” by Dave Yost. Photo “Mike DeWine” by Mike DeWine.
