Ohio’s GOP Gerrymander Would Boost Its Chances in Two Dem Districts 

By Jim Saksa

In July, over 400 people gathered at the the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus to fight for fair maps and protest against partisan gerrymandering. (Citizens Not Politicians campaign)

Ohio Democrats may accept a Republican proposal to redraw the state’s congressional districts to make two seats slightly more favorable to the GOP next year.

According to sources familiar with the deal, two districts currently held by Democrats — Rep. Greg Landsman’s seat in greater-Cincinnati and Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s seat west of Cleveland — would become slightly more Republican. 

Another district — the Akron-area seat that Rep. Emilia Sykes won by just two points in 2024 — would become more Democratic under the new maps.

Kaptur won her 21st term last year by less than a percentage point, even as President Donald Trump won the district by 7 points. Landsman had a 10-point win in 2024.

If adopted, the new maps would turn Landsman’s district into a toss-up and make Kaptur’s that much harder to hold — especially if the 79-year-old lawmaker doesn’t run for another term. While Sykes’ seat would get safer, it wouldn’t by much. The changes could turn Ohio’s current delegation of 10 Republicans and five Democrats into a 12-3 split. 

But that might be better than Buckeye State Democrats could otherwise hope for. Republicans could push for an even more aggressive gerrymandering if Democrats don’t play ball. 

Democrats hold only two seats to the GOP’s five on the Ohio Redistricting Commission, and are heavily outnumbered in the General Assembly. An attempt to make Ohio’s redistricting process bipartisan through a 2018 constitutional amendment fell short, allowing a determined majority to ram through partisan maps if the state legislature and the redistricting commission both fail to adopt a bipartisan compromise. 

The Redistricting Commission has until Friday to strike a deal before the matter returns to the GOP-dominated General Assembly, which can then draw a purely one-sided map. The commission is scheduled to hold a hearing Thursday afternoon and another Friday morning. 

News of the new proposal was first reported by Punchbowl. 

This year’s redistricting process in Ohio became more contentious after Trump launched a partisan gerrymandering war over the summer. Ohio’s current maps are already heavily gerrymandered — Republicans hold two-thirds of the seats in a state Trump won with 55% of the vote in 2024.