Ohioans Keep Ordering the Cheeseburger, Are Instead Repeatedly Given the Chicken Tenders
Ohioans live in one of the most gerrymandered states in the country, and we don't like it. Yes, Republicans have the advantage here, with Trump winning the state three elections in a row, Republicans Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted serving in the U.S. Senate, and the GOP holding all statewide offices. But the party's victories are typically in the range of a few percentage points, not blowouts. Meanwhile, Republicans hold 10 of our 15 congressional seats, and the split is similar in the Ohio statehouse. That's two-thirds, for those good at math, which I am not. And that's textbook gerrymandering, turning a small, but meaningful advantage into an insurmountable one.
As I mentioned, regular folks aren't fans of it. Ohio voters passed anti-gerrymandering initiatives in 2015 and 2018, but left politicians in control of the process, which left Republicans free to ignore their constituents' demands, which they very much did, and also ignore multiple Ohio Supreme Court decisions finding their voting maps unconstitutional. Then last year, another anti-gerrymandering initiative was on the ballot, this one proposing to remove politicians from the redistricting process in favor of a citizens redistricting commission. To the surprise of no one who has been paying attention to Ohio politics for the past 15 years, Republicans operating in bad faith, which is the only faith they seemingly follow here in the Buckeye State, crafted ballot language that was wildly misleading, likely tricking enough voters into thinking that a "no" vote was against gerrymandering, when in reality, a "no" vote kept the current regime in place. The initiative failed, and here we remain. It is a long, sordid history that has been monkeywrenched by Republicans every step of the way.
But the fight continues. The current system mandates another redistricting process that is currently underway, this one applying to Ohio's U.S. congressional districts only. State Democrats have proposed a map that would likely give 8 seats to Republicans and 7 to Democrats. Sen. Moreno, meanwhile, is all in with the national push to prevent at all costs a Democratic takeover of the U.S. House in 2026, and would like to see a map that gives Republicans 12 of Ohio's 15 seats. What are the chances this time around that Republicans earnestly work to create a map that approximates the actual partisan breakdown of the state? I'm going to go out on a limb and say . . . approximately 0%.
Is that frustrating as hell? Yes, it is. Imagine sliding into a booth at your favorite restaurant and ordering a cheeseburger, which you've had on your mind all day. Like, you really want a cheeseburger. There is no question about it. There are other options on the menu, but you want that cheeseburger, and so you order the cheeseburger, but your server brings you chicken tenders instead. At which point, the conversation goes something like this:
"I ordered a cheeseburger."
"I know."
"But you brought me chicken tenders."
"Right."
"But I ordered a cheeseburger."
"I don't want you to have a cheeseburger. I want you to have chicken tenders instead."
"Do you not have the stuff to make a cheeseburger?"
"No, we have the stuff."
"Then why can't you make me a cheeseburger?"
"Because I don't want to."
"What kind of a restaurant is this?"
And so we eat the chicken tenders because Ohio is a state, not a restaurant, and as much as we'd like to go somewhere else to get our cheeseburger, for most of us, that's not a viable option for a variety of personal and professional reasons.
But as I said, the fight continues, because not to fight would mean surrendering the goal of fair representation, for ourselves and for everyone who comes after us, and that would pretty much be the whole ballgame.
What can you do? There's a coalition called Equal Districts. Visit the site.
Check out the participating organizations, which include Ohio Organizing Collaborative and Innovation Ohio. Volunteer your time or money or both. Get outside with groups of people trying to disrupt the status quo. It's the only way this is going to change.