Redistricting in America

On September 26, Republican Governor John Kasich signed into law Ohio’s new congressional redistricting plan. The plan, released on September 13, passed the Republican-controlled Assembly and Senate earlier in the week, but its ultimate approval will likely be in the hands of voters through a proposed ballot referendum in November 2012. Overall, the plan secures the Republicans’ gains in the 2010 election, with very few districts being competitive. Ohio lost two congressional seats in the reapportionment process, guaranteeing that incumbents would see significant shifts in their constituencies and that some districts would be combined or eliminated.

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As various groups called for more time for the public to review a map that would redraw Ohio's congressional districts, a state House committee approved the proposal Wednesday, sending it to the full House for a vote. The proposal was passed along party lines, with unanimous opposition by Democrats who said more time was needed for a public to weigh in on it. The map's sponsor, Rep. Matt Huffman, said a House vote would likely occur Thursday. It also would need to be passed by the Senate.

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Representative Dennis Kucinich, the liberal Democrat from Cleveland, was a long way from home — 2,000 miles give or take. But he found plenty of political admirers in this stronghold of progressive political thought. “Run, Dennis, run,” urged Karen Pooley, a 48-year-old sales representative as Mr. Kucinich addressed her and other chanting protesters who were outside a Chase bank to rally against government policies that favor financial institutions while teachers are being laid off.

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Rep. Dennis Kucinich's (D-Ohio) district might be on the chopping block thanks to redistricting, but the Ohio Democrat is determined to stay in Congress, even if he has to run in another state. Speculation that Kucinich is looking to Washington state as a new home is running wild in political circles there, and Kucinich's office isn't squashing it.

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The impending redistricting battle in Ohio appears to be a factor in the slowly developing race against Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). Brown's numbers show he's vulnerable in 2012 but no Republican has yet to take a serious step toward challenging the freshman senator.

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