ARMONK, New York — After the 2020 census, the Ohio General Assembly redrew the map of Ohio’s 4th Congressional District to look like a jigsaw puzzle missing random pieces in order to keep it a safe district for Rep. Jim Jordan. But we need not be stuck with the consequences of partisan gerrymandering forever.
This November, if Democrats flip Ohio’s Supreme Court, currently controlled by a 4-3 Republican majority, the court could strike the map down, send it back to the General Assembly, and keep on doing it until legislators produce a district map that complies with the Ohio Constitution, specifically Article XI, Section 6, which says, “No General assembly district plan shall be drawn primarily to favor or disfavor a political party.”
For now, the tortured map will help Jordan fend off challenger Tamie Wilson, despite Jordan’s dismal record. During his eight terms in the U.S. House, he was the primary sponsor of just 16 bills. None became law. His legislative efficiency is rated 0.009 by the Center for Effective Lawmaking — fourth from last of 435 representatives. Small wonder he voted against the Ensuring a Fair and Accurate Census Act, which would have helped eliminate partisan gerrymandering.
The U.S. Supreme Court has also declined to stop gerrymandering. Although Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, “Excessive partisanship [in redistricting] … leads to results that … seem unjust [and] … incompatible with democratic principles,” the Court held that political redistricting is not the business of federal courts.
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