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Legislative leaders send Congressional mapmaking back to Ohio Redistricting Commission

 House Speaker Bob Cupp (R-Lima) says the legislature will not work on a new Congressional district map, sending the process to the Ohio Redistricting Commission.
Andy Chow
/
Statehouse News Bureau
House Speaker Bob Cupp (R-Lima) says the legislature will not work on a new Congressional district map, sending the process to the Ohio Redistricting Commission.

Republican leaders in the House and Senate are punting the mapmaking process for new Congressional districts back to the Ohio Redistricting Commission.

Legislative leaders said the redistricting commission will take over because a congressional map from that panel can go into effect immediately.

The House and Senate would have to pass a bill through an emergency clause, requiring Democratic support.

"It became apparent that it wasn't possible to get a two-thirds vote in the House, which would enable the map adopted to go into effect right away, and without that it wouldn't go into effect until after the primary date," said House Speaker Bob Cupp (R-Lima).

Sen. Vernon Sykes (D-Akron), a commission co-chair, said the Ohio Supreme Court has created clear objectives through its rulings on district maps.

"You have to attempt to comply with the constitution. So if that's clear this time I think we'll be closer to coming up with a compromise and agreement," Sykes said.

House and Senate Democrats released their own map which would create eight Republican-leaning and seven Democratic-leaning Congressional districts.

The rejected map created 12 districts that favored the GOP.

Copyright 2022 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.

Andy Chow is a general assignment state government reporter who focuses on environmental, energy, agriculture, and education-related issues. He started his journalism career as an associate producer with ABC 6/FOX 28 in Columbus before becoming a producer with WBNS 10TV.