Latest GOP congressional map reunites Toledo, Lucas County in one district

Nov. 16—COLUMBUS — A revised congressional map proposed by Ohio Senate Republicans on Monday night and expected to come to a vote in the chamber Tuesday would place all of Lucas County in a new 9th congressional district that would essentially stretch from the Indiana state line to Vermilion.

The Toledo-based district, now represented by U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo), would still take a decidedly GOP shift as it picks up rural counties in the northwest corner of the state that are currently part of the 5th District held by U.S. Rep. Bob Latta (R., Bowling Green).

The new 9th District would consist of all of Henry, Fulton, Defiance, Ottawa, Sandusky, and Erie counties, and the northeastern corner of Wood County that includes Rossford, Northwood, Millbury, Walbridge, Lake Township, and part of Perrysburg Township.

Republicans are offering the map as a would-be compromise to Democrats in advance of the planned committee vote Tuesday morning. The bill is then expected to reach the full Senate floor and could see a House vote on Wednesday.

The new 5th District would remain heavily rural and Republican, consisting of the rest of Wood County and all of Paulding, Van Wert, Mercer, Putnam, Paulding, Seneca, Huron, Wyandot, and Crawford counties.

The 4th District, held by U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R., Urbana), would shift south and be far more compact than the duck-shaped district that now stretches from the Indiana line west of Lima east to Lorain County. It would consist of 11 whole or partial counties, north and west of Columbus, including Allen County.

The map still appears to contain just two districts that would be friendly to Democrats in Cleveland and Columbus. It continues to split Hamilton County three ways, diluting the suburban Cincinnati vote.

Ohio Sen. Rob McColley (R., Napoleon), Senate Bill 258 sponsor, said the map keeps seven of Ohio's largest cities entirely in a single district each. The sole exception is Columbus, which has a population too large to fit entirely into one congressional district.

"Not since the mid-'60s have these seven major cities been whole, and for the first time in more than 150 years Cincinnati will be contained in a single district," he said. "This is truly historic.

"For the past 10 years, Toledo has been split," he added. "In the original House proposal, Toledo was again divided. Toledoans were concerned, we listened, and made the changes — Toledo whole, Lucas County whole."

Republicans currently hold 12 of Ohio's 16 congressional districts. The state will lose one of those districts due to its slow population growth over the last decade relative to other states.

Republicans boast that the new map would consist of seven "competitive districts."

They made a similar claim about their first version of the map. But analysts suggested that the final result could still be a 13-2 Republican-majority map.

The same would have been true for the map proposed by House Republicans.

It would have split Toledo down the middle. While the original Senate GOP proposal would have reunited both pieces of Toledo into one district, it still would have divided Lucas County.

Critics of the Republican proposals argued that they ignored reforms approved by voters in 2018 that were meant to create more geographically compact maps and reduce the majority's ability to draw maps disproportionately favoring their candidates.

First Published November 15, 2021, 9:48pm