Ohio is divided into 15 congressional districts, each represented by a member of the United States House of Representatives. After the 2010 census, Ohio, which up until then had 18 districts, lost two House seats due to slow population growth compared to the national average, [1] and a new map was signed into law on September 26, 2011. Starting in the 2022 midterms, per the 2020 United States census, Ohio lost its 16th congressional seat, ending up with its current 15 districts. [2]
The following table is a list of members of the United States House delegation from Ohio, their terms, their district boundaries, and the district political ratings according to the CPVI. The delegation in the 118th United States Congress has a total of 15 members, with 10 Republicans and 5 Democrats.
Current U.S. representatives from Ohio | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
District | Member (Residence) [3] | Party | Incumbent since | CPVI (2022) [4] | District map |
1st | Greg Landsman (Cincinnati) | Democratic | January 3, 2023 | D+2 | |
2nd | Dave Taylor (Amelia) | Republican | January 3, 2025 | R+25 | |
3rd | Joyce Beatty (Columbus) | Democratic | January 3, 2013 | D+20 | |
4th | Jim Jordan (Urbana) | Republican | January 3, 2007 | R+20 | |
5th | Bob Latta (Bowling Green) | Republican | December 11, 2007 | R+15 | |
6th | Michael Rulli (Salem) | Republican | June 11, 2024 | R+16 | |
7th | Max Miller (Rocky River) | Republican | January 3, 2023 | R+7 | |
8th | Warren Davidson (Troy) | Republican | June 7, 2016 | R+14 | |
9th | Marcy Kaptur (Toledo) | Democratic | January 3, 1983 | R+3 | |
10th | Mike Turner (Dayton) | Republican | January 3, 2003 | R+4 | |
11th | Shontel Brown (Warrensville Heights) | Democratic | November 4, 2021 | D+28 | |
12th | Troy Balderson (Zanesville) | Republican | September 5, 2018 | R+18 | |
13th | Emilia Sykes (Akron) | Democratic | January 3, 2023 | R+1 | |
14th | Dave Joyce (South Russell) | Republican | January 3, 2013 | R+9 | |
15th | Mike Carey (Columbus) | Republican | November 4, 2021 | R+6 | |
On May 3, 2019, a three-judge panel from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio declared Ohio's 2012 district map contrary to Article One of the United States Constitution, as "an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander" and ordered "the enactment of a constitutionally viable replacement" prior to the 2020 elections. [6] An appeal made to the U.S. Supreme Court resulted in the order to redraw the map being nullified. [7]
On November 17, 2021, after lengthy discussions, a new map was passed by the Ohio House of Representatives 55-36, along party lines, with no Democrat voting in favor of the map. [8] The map was sent to Governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine, where he accepted it 3 days later on November 20. [9]
The map was controversial, with Democrats accuse the map of being purposefully designed to benefit Republicans. [8] [9] By December 7, 2021, six lawsuits had been filed against the new 15-seat congressional map, citing it as "racially discriminatory" and a partisan gerrymander. The proposed map favored Republican to Democratic districts by a 12-3 margin. [10]
On January 14, 2022, the Ohio Supreme Court declared the map a partisan gerrymander, violating Article XIX of the Constitution of Ohio, in a 4-3 decision. The Ohio General Assembly had 30 days to draw a new map, but declined to do so, passing the buck to the same 7-member political Ohio Redistricting Commission in charge of Ohio's contentious legislative redistricting. [11]
On March 2, 2022, the Ohio Redistricting Commission adopted a second Congressional map along party lines. [12] In the midst of ensuing legal maneuvers over this map, Ohio's 2022 primary for Congressional seats was held as scheduled on May 3, 2022, though this election did not include state legislative races, as a third set of statehouse map had been rejected on March 16, 2022 by the Ohio Supreme Court. [13] On July 19, 2022, the Ohio Supreme Court, again on a bitterly divided 4-3 vote, ruled that the second Congressional map was also a partisan gerrymander and ordered a redraw within 30 days, but the 2022 general election was allowed to proceed on this invalidated map [14] . Neither the state legislature nor the Ohio Redistricting Commission responded to the court's order to redraw the map.
In the 2022 general election, Republicans won the seat occupied by the retiring Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor, swinging the court toward the faction that had dissented from the earlier opinions. [15] In response, the lawsuits over the second Congressional map were dropped, as the litigants feared the new court would permit an even greater gerrymander than the map enacted on March 2, 2022. [16] As that map did not have bipartisan support, per Ohio Constitution Article XIX it is a four-year map that must be redrawn prior to the 2026 elections. [17] A 2024 citizen ballot initiative spearheaded by O'Connor, proposing to wrest legislative and Congressional redistricting power away from Ohio politicians into a citizen redistricting commission and enforce strict proportionality failed essentially along party lines, based on analysis of county- and precinct-level voting results on the issue relative to U.S. Presidential voting. [18] [19]
North Carolina is currently divided into 14 congressional districts, each represented by a member of the United States House of Representatives. After the 2000 census, the number of North Carolina's seats was increased from 12 to 13 due to the state's increase in population. In the 2022 elections, per the 2020 United States census, North Carolina gained one new congressional seat for a total of 14.
Maryland's 6th congressional district elects a representative to the United States House of Representatives from the northwest part of the state. The district comprises all of Garrett, Allegany, Frederick, and Washington counties as well as a portion of Montgomery County. David Trone (D) is its current representative.
The U.S. state of Alabama is currently divided into seven congressional districts, each represented by a member of the United States House of Representatives.
Ohio's 3rd congressional district is located entirely in Franklin County and includes most of the city of Columbus. The current district lines were drawn in 2022, following the redistricting based on the 2020 census. It is currently represented by Democrat Joyce Beatty.
After the 2000 census, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was divided into 19 congressional districts, decreasing from 21 due to reapportionment.
Utah is divided into 4 congressional districts, each represented by a member of the United States House of Representatives. After the 2010 census, Utah gained one House seat, and a new map was approved by the state legislature and signed into law by Governor Gary Herbert.
Redistricting in Pennsylvania refers to the decennial process of redrawing state legislative and federal congressional districts in Pennsylvania.
Gerrymandering is the practice of setting boundaries of electoral districts to favor specific political interests within legislative bodies, often resulting in districts with convoluted, winding boundaries rather than compact areas. The term "gerrymandering" was coined after a review of Massachusetts's redistricting maps of 1812 set by Governor Elbridge Gerry noted that one of the districts looked like a mythical salamander.
The National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC) is a US organization that focuses on redistricting and is affiliated with the Democratic Party. The organization coordinates campaign strategy, directs fundraising, organizes ballot initiatives and files lawsuits against state redistricting maps. At launch, the organization announced that it intends to support Democratic candidates for local and state offices in order for them to control congressional map drawing in the redistricting cycle following the 2020 United States census.
The 2020 United States redistricting cycle is in progress following the completion of the 2020 United States census. In all fifty states, various bodies are re-drawing state legislative districts. States that are apportioned more than one seat in the United States House of Representatives are also drawing new districts for that legislative body.
REDMAP is a project of the Republican State Leadership Committee of the United States to increase Republican control of congressional seats, as well as state legislatures, largely through manipulating electoral district boundaries. The project has made effective use of partisan gerrymandering by relying on previously unavailable mapping software, such as Caliper Corporation's Maptitude to improve the precision with which district lines are strategically drawn. The strategy was focused on swing blue states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, where there was a Democratic majority, but which they could swing towards Republican with appropriate redistricting. The project was launched in 2010 and estimated to have cost the Republican party around US$30 million.
Rucho v. Common Cause, No. 18-422, 588 U.S. 684 (2019) is a landmark case of the United States Supreme Court concerning partisan gerrymandering. The Court ruled that while partisan gerrymandering may be "incompatible with democratic principles", the federal courts cannot review such allegations, as they present nonjusticiable political questions outside the jurisdiction of these courts.
Redistricting in North Carolina has been a controversial topic due to allegations and admissions of gerrymandering.
Redistricting in Wisconsin is the process by which boundaries are redrawn for municipal wards, Wisconsin State Assembly districts, Wisconsin State Senate districts, and Wisconsin's congressional districts. Redistricting typically occurs—as in other U.S. states—once every decade, usually in the year after the decennial United States census. According to the Wisconsin Constitution, redistricting in Wisconsin follows the regular legislative process, it must be passed by both houses of the Wisconsin Legislature and signed by the Governor of Wisconsin—unless the Legislature has sufficient votes to override a gubernatorial veto. Due to political gridlock, however, it has become common for Wisconsin redistricting to be conducted by courts. The 1982, 1992, and 2002 legislative maps were each enacted by panels of United States federal judges; the 1964 and 2022 maps were enacted by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
The 2010 United States redistricting cycle took place following the completion of the 2010 United States census. In all fifty states, various bodies re-drew state legislative districts. States that are apportioned more than one seat in the United States House of Representatives also drew new districts for that legislative body. The resulting new districts were first implemented for the 2011 and 2012 elections.
The 2022 United States state legislative elections were held on November 8, 2022, for 88 state legislative chambers in 46 states. Across the fifty states, approximately 56 percent of all upper house seats and 92 percent of all lower house seats were up for election. Additionally, six territorial chambers were up in four territories and the District of Columbia. These midterm elections coincided with other state and local elections, including gubernatorial elections in multiple states.
The 2024 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 5, 2024, to elect the 435 representatives of the United States House of Representatives, as well as 6 non-voting delegates from the District of Columbia and inhabited U.S. territories. The elections were held together with other federal, state, and local elections, including the U.S. presidential election and elections to the Senate, as part of the 2024 United States general election. The winners of this election will serve in the 119th United States Congress, with seats apportioned among states based on the 2020 United States census.
Redistricting in Ohio is the process by which boundaries are redrawn for federal congressional and state legislative districts. It has historically been highly controversial. Critics have accused legislators of attempting to protect themselves from competition by gerrymandering districts.
Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, 602 U.S. 1 (2024), was a United States Supreme Court case regarding racial gerrymandering and partisan gerrymandering within South Carolina's 1st congressional district, which includes most of Charleston.
The 2024 Ohio redistricting commission initiative was a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment, Issue 1 on the ballot, that was defeated 53.7% to 46.3% in the November 2024 election. If passed, the amendment would have replaced the existing politician-led Ohio Redistricting Commission with a 15-member commission of Ohio citizens selected from a pool by a panel of retired judges, to redraw congressional and legislative districts.