It is no secret that Ohio’s congressional and legislative districts are gerrymandered to the extreme. The Brennan Center's Yuri Rudensky joins the show to discuss a new study that reveals how gerrymandering has taken away a true choice for many voters.
Republican leaders at the statehouse have drawn district borders in such a way as to give their party’s candidates an advantage in as many districts as possible. Even though polling and general election results show Ohio is at most 54% to 46% Republican, Republicans hold 60-70% of the seats in the state legislature.
These are the high-level numbers we’ve talked about on this podcast for years. However, a new study from the progressive Brennan Center for Justice public policy institute digs deeper. It states that 77% of Ohio's 9 million voters practically have no real say in what party represents them in the state legislature.
Snollygoster of the week
Columbus Division of Police declined to get involved in last week's campus protest at Ohio State University, which led to 36 arrests and some complaints about police from protesters. The police present were Ohio State University officers and Ohio State Troopers. Columbus police were not seen in any videos arresting students.
CPD stated that in this situation, the division did not have the available resources requested or the ability to interact with the community in the way that was requested. OSU says it did not request Columbus police support, suggesting that OSU was prepared to arrest students while CPD was not ready to do so.
After facing criticism for their response to the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Columbus police were notably cautious this time.
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