Ohio lawmakers reach bipartisan deal on congressional map shifting GOP advantage

Ohio's Republican and Democratic legislative leaders have reached a bipartisan agreement on a new congressional map that favors Republicans but avoids an extreme gerrymander. The map increases Republican chances of winning three competitive districts currently held by Democrats, potentially shifting the balance to 11 or 12 Republican seats out of 15, while Democrats might hold four. Key Democratic incumbents such as Reps. Marcy Kaptur, Greg Landsman, and Emilia Sykes will face tougher but still competitive districts. The deal prevents Democrats from mounting a referendum campaign to keep the current map and avoids the GOP pushing through a more heavily partisan map without Democratic support. The Ohio Redistricting Commission is scheduled to meet to consider approving the map ahead of an October 31 deadline, after which Republicans could draw the map unilaterally. This bipartisan compromise is notable given prior expectations that the commission might deadlock, ceding control to the GOP legislature, and reflects Democrats leveraging the threat of a referendum against Republicans' threat of a less favorable map.