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HISTORY OF OHIO REDISTRICTING

New legislative and congressional districts are drawn in Ohio after each ten-year census to reflect changes in population. The Ohio Legislature is responsible for drawing the state’s congressional districts, while the Ohio Apportionment Board draws the state’s legislative districts. The Apportionment Board consists of five members: the governor, state auditor, secretary of state, one person chosen by the speaker of the House of Representatives and the leader in the Senate of the political party of which the speaker is a member, and one person chosen by the legislative leaders of the major political party of which the speaker is not a member. (Article XI, Ohio Constitution)

History
Prior to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Baker v. Carr (1962), seats in Ohio’s state legislature were apportioned by county, pursuant to Article XI of the Ohio Constitution of 1851. To achieve compliance with Baker’s “one person, one vote” doctrine, the state General Assembly proposed a constitutional amendment to the voters in May 1965 which would have apportioned Ohio’s House of Representatives by population. The voters rejected the amendment 681,283 to 595,288. In May 1967, the General Assembly proposed a constitutional amendment to the voters which would have apportioned both the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Senate. Voters rejected the amendment 850,068 to 699,021. In November 1967, the General Assembly presented a revised version of the May proposal, which voters approved 1,315,736 to 908,010.

The amendment finally passed by Ohio voters created the Ohio Apportionment Board to draw 33 Senate districts and 99 House of Representatives districts for the state. Because legislative leaders from each of the two major parties select one member of the Apportionment Board, partisan control of the Board and thus the composition and placement of Ohio’s legislative districts boils down to the elections for three state offices: governor, state auditor, and secretary of state. The executive branch’s role in drawing legislative districts in Ohio erodes the constitutional checks and balances because the executive branch has enormous leverage over both individual legislators and the entire legislature by virtue of its ability to craft legislative districts.

The Ohio Legislature is assisted in drawing the state’s congressional districts by a Legislative Taskforce on Redistricting, Reapportionment, and Demographic Research. Both the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate each get to appoint three members to the taskforce, including no more than two members of the same political party and one member who must not be a member of the General Assembly. Under current public records laws, the public cannot request documents produced by the taskforce.

For the past four cycles, the party that controlled the redistricting process reaped considerable gains in the legislature in the ensuing election cycles.

1970’s
In 1970, the following officials won their elections, placing them on the Apportionment Board in charge of drawing Ohio’s legislative districts in 1971: Thomas Ferguson, State Auditor (D); Ted Brown, Secretary of State (R); John Gilligan, Governor (D). Under the last elections using county-centered districts, Republicans had a 54-45 advantage over Democrats in the Ohio House of Representatives and a 20-13 advantage in the Senate. Under the first elections held using the new population-centered districts drawn in 1971, Democrats gained thirteen seats in the House for a 58-41 advantage. Because Senate races are staggered, the full impact of the 1971 redistricting on representation in the Senate wasn’t apparent until after the 1974 elections, where Democrats won a total of nine seats more than they had in 1970, for a 21-12 advantage in the Senate.

1980’s
In 1978, Ohio voters elected Thomas Ferguson (D) as State Auditor, Tony Celebrezze, Jr. (D) as Secretary of State, and James Rhodes (R) as Governor, putting Democrats in control of the Apportionment Board in 1981 and in charge of drawing Ohio’s legislative districts for the 1980’s. In 1980, the last election under the previous redistricting plan, Democrats won a 56-43 advantage over Republicans in the Ohio House, while Republicans won a 18-15 advantage over Democrats in the Senate. In the first elections held under the 1981 redistricting plan, Democrats gained six seats in the House for a 62-37 advantage over Republicans. After the 1984 elections, neither party gained seats, leaving Republicans with the same 18-15 advantage in the Senate that they enjoyed in 1980.

In 1981, Ohio voters rejected a Republican-sponsored constitutional amendment that would have created a redistricting commission to draw the state’s 132 legislative districts.

1990’s
In 1990, Ohio voters elected Thomas Ferguson (D) as State Auditor, Robert Taft III (R) as Secretary of State, and George Voinovich (R) as Governor, putting Republicans in control of the Apportionment Board and in charge of drawing Ohio’s legislative districts for the 1990’s. In 1990, the last election held under the 1981 redistricting plan, Democrats won a 61-38 advantage over Republicans in the Ohio House, while Republicans won a 21-12 advantage over Democrats in the Senate. In 1992, the first elections held under the 1991 redistricting plan, Republicans gained eight seats in the Ohio House, narrowing the Democrats’ advantage to 53-46. After the 1994 Senate elections, Republicans lost one seat to the Democrats, but maintained a 20-13 advantage.

The 1991 redistricting plan was challenged in court as violating the Equal Protection clause on the grounds that the plan unfairly packed minorities into districts. The case eventually went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which held that while federal courts cannot mandate the creation of minority-packed districts in the absence of a Voting Rights Act violation, states can still create such districts. The 1991 plan was eventually upheld.

In 1999, the League of Women Voters initiated a petition drive to gather signatures for an amendment which would have limited the ability of the political parties to gerrymander districts. The signature-gathering drive was ultimately unsuccessful.
2000’s

In 1998, Ohio voters elected Jim Petro (R) as State Auditor, Kenneth Blackwell (R) as Secretary of State, and Robert Taft III (R) as Governor, putting Republicans firmly in control of the Apportionment Board and thus in charge of drawing the state’s districts for the 2000’s. In 2000, the last election held using the 1991 redistricting plan, Republicans won a 59-40 advantage over Democrats in the Ohio House, while winning a 21-12 advantage over Democrats in the Senate. In 2002, in the first elections held under the 2001-2 redistricting plan, Republicans gained three seats in the House, increasing their advantage in that body to 62-37. In the 2004 Senate elections, Republicans held one more seat than in 2000, for a 22-11 advantage.

Sources:
1851 Constitution - http://www.ohiohistory.org/onlinedoc/ohgovernment/constitution/cnst1851.html
Historical Ohio GA partisan composition (Gongwer) - http://www.gongwer-oh.com/public/gahis.html
Redistricting documents not subject to Public Records Act - http://www.lsc.state.oh.us/membersonly/125publicrecordslaw.pdf