Citizen Not Politicians Campaign Announces Endorsing Organizations, Businesses, Thought Leaders Throughout Ohio

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Nonpartisan Coalition to Terminate Gerrymandering in the Buckeye State Continues to Grow

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The grassroots nonpartisan Citizen Not Politicians campaign today announced the support of nearly 100 organizations, businesses, and thought leaders across Ohio for a constitutional amendment that will end gerrymandering in the state. 

The diverse coalition supporting the historic initiative includes Republicans, Independents and Democrats and is made up of business groups, nonpartisan policy groups, labor unions, civil rights organizations, and faith-based organizations representing hundreds of thousands of Ohioans across the political spectrum. 

The movement is expected to continue to grow in the coming months. 

All of the endorsing organizations are united in their commitment to:  

  • Creating an independent map-drawing process led by citizens, not politicians or lobbyists
  • Banning politicians and lobbyists from drawing district lines 
  • Stopping career politicians from rigging voting districts to stay in office, 
  • Ensuring that map drawing is done in an open and transparent process.

“We are thrilled to have such a broad and diverse coalition supporting our efforts to end gerrymandering in Ohio,” said retired Republican Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, who helped write the amendment. “This support demonstrates that redistricting is not a partisan issue. The long list of endorsers underscores that fair and transparent electoral districts are essential for a healthy democracy and that citizens want to be in charge of the process, not the politicians who have betrayed the public trust.”

O’Connor said the coalition will turn in many more than the required number of valid signatures (more than 413,000) by July 3 to qualify for the November ballot. Hundreds of thousands of Ohio voters have signed the petition in all 88 counties, including Republicans, Democrats and Independents.

In January, a nonpartisan group of 67 business leaders called Leadership Now released an open letter endorsing the amendment.    

The list of organizations, businesses, and thought leaders supporting the Citizen Not Politicians Amendment includes:

  • A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI) 
  • Abortion Forward
  • AFSCME Ohio Council 8
  • All in Ohio Kids
  • American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio
  • American Federation of Teachers (AFT) 
  • Article IV
  • Ashtabula County AFL-CIO Labor Council
  • Brennan Center for Justice
  • Building Freedom Ohio
  • Business for Democracy-Ohio
  • CAIR Ohio
  • Central Ohio Area Labor Federation (ALF)
  • Central Ohio Labor Council, AFL-CIO
  • Cincinnati AFL-CIO
  • Cincinnatus Association 
  • Co-op Dayton
  • Common Cause Ohio
  • Communications Workers of America (CWA) – District 4
  • Communications Workers of America (CWA) – Local 4300
  • Communications Workers of America (CWA) – Local 4302
  • Communications Workers of America (CWA) – Local 4319
  • Communications Workers of America (CWA) – Local 4322
  • Communications Workers of America (CWA) – Local 4324
  • Communications Workers of America (CWA) – Local 4326
  • Communications Workers of America (CWA) – Local 4340
  • Communications Workers of America (CWA) – Local 4372
  • Communications Workers of America (CWA) – Local 4400
  • Communications Workers of America (CWA) – Local 4502
  • Dayton-Miami Valley AFL-CIO
  • DOHCS
  • Equality Ohio
  • Faith in Public Life
  • Freedom Bloc
  • Gem City Action
  • Greater Cleveland Congregations 
  • Hall of Fame Central Labor Council
  • Innovation Ohio
  • LatinOHs
  • LEAD Ohio
  • Leadership Now Project
  • League of Women Voters of Ohio
  • Licking-Knox-Muskingum-Coshocton Central Labor Council
  • LOVEboldly
  • Mahoning-Trumbull AFL-CIO
  • Mid-Ohio Area CLC, AFL-CIO
  • National Council of Jewish Women – Cleveland
  • North Shore AFL-CIO
  • Northcoast Area Labor Federation (ALF)
  • Northeast Ohio Area Labor Federation (ALF)
  • Northeast Ohio Voting Advocates
  • OAPSE-AFSCME 
  • OFUPAC (Ohio Families Unite for Political Action and Change)
  • Ohio AFL-CIO
  • Ohio Alliance for Retired Americans Educational Fund
  • Ohio Citizen Action
  • Ohio Citizen Action Education Fund
  • Ohio Coalition on Black Civic Participation
  • Ohio Conference AAUP
  • Ohio Education Association
  • Ohio Environmental Council
  • Ohio Farmers Union
  • Ohio Federation of Teachers (OFT) 
  • Ohio NAACP
  • Ohio Organizing Campaign
  • Ohio Organizing Collaborative
  • Ohio Student Association
  • Ohio Sustainable Business Council
  • Ohio Unity Coalition
  • Ohio Voice
  • Ohioans for Redistricting Reform
  • OPAWL – Building AAPI Feminist Leadership
  • Parkersburg-Marietta Building and Construction Trades Council
  • Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio
  • Red Wine & Blue
  • RepresentUs
  • RuralOrganizing.org
  • Service Employees International Union (SEIU) District 1199 WV/KY/OH
  • Shawnee Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO
  • Southeast Ohio Area Labor Federation (ALF)
  • Southeastern Ohio AFL-CIO
  • Stand Up America
  • The Amos Project
  • The Care Economy Organizing Project
  • The Hunger Network of Ohio
  • Tri-County Regional Labor Council
  • UAW Region 2B
  • UFCW Local 1059
  • United Steelworkers District 1
  • Upper Ohio Valley Labor Council
  • Wild Cat Gift and Party

Gerrymandering is the practice by which politicians draw political boundaries to give themselves an unfair advantage, undermining fair representation and leading to political stagnation and ineffective policy. Ohio is recognized as one of the most gerrymandered states in the nation.

Nationally, Ohio is recognized as one of the worst states for gerrymandering, undermining proportional representation and leading to political stagnation and ineffective policy.

More than 9 million Ohioans, or 77% of the state population, live in districts where one party has a severe advantage in the 2024 Ohio House of Representatives elections, according to an analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law. 

In addition, Ohio’s partisan map-drawing process meant that nearly half of the 99-member Ohio House lacked a competitive primary contest to nominate the likely winners for the upcoming general election, the Brennan analysis found.

The Citizens Not Politicians Amendment will:

  • Create the 15-member Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission made up of Republican, Democratic and independent citizens who broadly represent the different geographic areas and demographics of the state.
  • Ban current or former politicians, political party officials, and lobbyists from sitting on the commission.
  • Require fair and impartial districts by making it unconstitutional to draw voting districts that discriminate against or favor any political party or individual politician.
  • Require the commission to operate under an open and independent process.

Seven other states have similar independent citizen redistricting commissions: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Montana, and Washington. 

If approved, the new commission could draw maps that could be in place as early as the 2026 elections. For more information visit https://www.citizensnotpoliticians.org.