The two ballot issues asking Columbus voters to reform city council may prompt some to split their ticket, voting "yes" on one issue while voting "no" on another.
One political action committee running streaming and social media ads while distributing mailers and yard signs is urging just this: a "yes" vote on Issue 8 and a "no" vote on Issue 9. This debate was on display at the Columbus Metropolitan Club forum on both issues this week.
Issue 8, which was put on the ballot by the grassroots group Our City Our Say, would make it so the nine Columbus City Council members are only elected by voters in their district. Issue 9, which city council members put on the ballot in response, would do the same but also expand city council by four new members whom would be elected by all voters within the city.
Voters Have Choices is the group behind these mailers, yard signs and ads. The group's chairman, treasurer and only donor Darryl Tanner hasn't responded to repeated requests for comment.
Tanner is the CEO of the tech firm King Memory LLC and lives in Columbus. He donated more than $300,000 to this effort.
At the CMC forum, former U.S. Senate candidate Morgan Harper explained why she is splitting her ticket. Harper is one of the many members of the Our City Our Say coalition who has taken this stance, while the group's leadership stays neutral.
"The reason why I land on a yes on 8 and a no on 9 is that 9, as was described, injects a lot more uncertainty into the impact of the district, the all-district system," Harper said.
Harper said one of the most critical issues that Columbus and the wider country has is a lack of trust in government.
"I want to make sure that people start to feel how good government can be as quickly as possible, and I think the district system will allow for that," Harper said.
Many groups have endorsed a "yes" vote on both issues, including the Franklin County Democratic Party.
Jesse Vogel, a former city council candidate in 2025, also endorsed a "yes" on both issues while at the forum. Vogel ran under the current system in District 7 and won the majority of votes there, but lost citywide to current City Council Member Tiara Ross.
During the forum, City Council member Nick Bankston pushed back on some of the rhetoric in the Voters Have Choices ads.
"Issue 9 was not hatched by city council in some dark room by ourselves. Issue 9 is not a last ditch effort to hold on to power," Bankston said.
Bankston pointed out that there are problems Issue 8 doesn't address. Issue 8 only addresses one change, largely because the law restricts how many topics a citizen-initiated ballot issue can address.
Issue 9 would also redraw the district map in 2028, which is something advocates in Columbus' Black community pushed for due to criticisms of the current map. The city council-led effort would also lower the number of signatures required to get on the ballot for the nine district council members.
"I think we're focusing so much on the count and the number of members that we forget about Issue 9 (addressing) these maps that we currently have. Even with Issue 8, it doesn't address that," Bankston said.
The district map wouldn't be redrawn until after the 2030 U.S. Census count if only Issue 8 passes.
Harper said she supports a map redraw in principle, but said the at-large seats could dilute the impact of the district system alone.
