This newly redrawn congressional districts map for Ohio has been approved by the state Senate and is expected to be authorized by the state House on Thursday. It keeps Mahoning and Trumbull counties within the same 6th Congressional District.

All of Mahoning and Trumbull counties will be in the same congressional district with eight other counties under a Republican-drawn map approved by the Ohio Senate along party lines with the same outcome expected Thursday in the state House.

The map, which is expected to be challenged in the Ohio Supreme Court and / or by referendum, creates a safe Republican 6th Congressional District with Mahoning as the most-populous county and Trumbull as the second most-populous county.

The Republican map creates seven safe Republican districts, two for Democrats and six that state Sen. Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, and the bill’s sponsor, called “competitive.”

But of those six, five favor Republicans including three that give that political party an advantage of 7 to 8 percent over Democrats based on voting trends in partisan statewide elections during the past decade.

It’s essentially a 12-3 Republican map though one Democratic district (Akron and its surrounding areas) and one Republican district (Cincinnati and surrounding areas) have a difference of about 1 percent between the political parties based on voting trends.

The map will be good for only four years.

For a 10-year map, 60 percent of the state Legislature needs to support it with at least one-third of Democrats.

The Senate voted 24-7 Tuesday along party lines with all Republicans supporting it and all Democrats in opposition.

The House will vote Thursday on the map with few, if any, Democrats expected to support it.

“Passing an unduly partisan map is a failure of Republican leadership that disrespects the people of Ohio who expected more from their government,” said House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes, D-Akron. “It is clear from the map released and the lack of good-faith negotiations over the last few weeks to find a way towards a bipartisan, 10-year map, Republicans are teeing up a veto from the governor or a referendum by the people of this state who they betrayed.”

Dan Tierney, Gov. Mike DeWine’s spokesman, said without a final map, “it’s premature to comment” on a potential veto.

DeWine has up to 10 days after he receives the bill from the Legislature to veto it, Tierney said.

“Sometimes the Legislature is swift in getting us bills, and sometimes it can take a few days,” he said.

McColley called the proposed congressional lines “the most competitive map offered to date” by any of the Democratic or Republican legislative caucuses and the most competitive in “decades.”

McColley said Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, and House Speaker Bob Cupp, R-Lima, “conceptually” finalized the map last Friday and finished it Monday.

Asked by state Sen. Vernon Sykes, D-Akron, if Republicans were “still open to any discussions or negotiations” on the map, McColley said he couldn’t answer.

Cupp said, “There’s a good chance it will be adopted as presented.”

VALLEY MAP

The map was released by Republicans late Monday with supporting data provided Tuesday just before an Ohio Senate Local Government and Elections Committee hearing.

Republicans in the House and the Senate released separate maps Nov. 3. Republicans in the two legislative bodies then worked out this new map behind closed doors.

The initial Senate Republicans map kept all of Mahoning and Trumbull counties in the same district while the House Republicans map split Trumbull into two different districts and kept Mahoning whole.

The current 6th District has been represented by U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Marietta, since 2011. That district is the most Republican in the state with 66.7 percent to 30.96 percent Democrat and the rest going to other political parties based on the same voting trends.

The new district would be 55.81 percent Republican to 41.83 percent Democratic with the rest going to other political parties.

In addition to Mahoning and Trumbull, the district would include all of Columbiana, Carroll, Jefferson, Harrison, Belmont, Noble and Monroe counties and all of Washington County except for four townships.

It’s very similar to a district proposed by Senate Republicans except it added Carroll and Noble counties and took out Guernsey County.

In the current 6th District, Johnson represents a small section of Mahoning County: Sebring and Beloit villages plus Beaver, Green, Goshen, Smith, Springfield, Canfield, Berlin and Ellsworth townships. It includes all or portions of 17 other counties. Among those other counties are all eight that would be in the new district.

Before the last redistricting, which occurred in 2011, Johnson represented a larger portion of Mahoning County, including Boardman and Milton, for his first two-year term in Congress.

But he’s never represented Youngstown or the most-populous and more Democratic portions of Mahoning County or any of Trumbull County.

‘WILL OF VOTERS’

Most of Mahoning and Trumbull counties are currently in the 13th District, drawn by Republicans to be Democratic, though that has declined in recent years. That district is 53.51 percent Democratic, 43.95 Republican and the rest for other political parties based on voting trends in partisan elections in the past decade. It is currently represented by Tim Ryan, D-Howland, who is running next year for the U.S. Senate.

Portions of northern and central Trumbull County are currently in the 14th District, represented by Dave Joyce, R-Bainbridge. That district is currently 53.57 percent Republican, 44.14 percent Democratic with the rest for other political parties. Trumbull is the smallest part of that district.

State Rep. Michael J. O’Brien, D-Warren, said: “It’s very disappointing and I’m sure it will be a party-line vote. At least it has Trumbull and Mahoning whole — at least. If there’s anything positive about this, is it doesn’t separate the two counties. But in Trumbull County, we have a congressman from Howland. It will now be someone who lives in Marietta.”

The driving distance from Howland to Marietta is more than 165 miles.

A constitutional amendment approved in 2018 by state voters called for bipartisanship and fairness in drawing lines.

The new congressional lines are also supposed to reflect voting trends over the past decade, which has favored Republicans 54 percent to 46 percent for Democrats.

“After years of gerrymandering, Ohioans demanded substantial reforms to the way Ohio draws its districts,” said state Sen. Tina Maharath, D-Canal Winchester and ranking Democrat on the Senate Local Government and Elections Committee.

She said the Republican map “completely disregards the Ohio Constitution and the will of voters. It gives the Republican Party an unearned advantage (and) is even worse than our current map.”

The state’s delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives is 12-4 in favor of Republicans and is losing one district starting with next year’s election because Ohio’s population didn’t grow as fast as the rest of the nation.

Cupp called the map “rational, constitutional and it achieves the objectives Ohio voters overwhelmingly endorsed” in 2018.

“The map does not unduly favor or disfavor any political party or its incumbents,” Cupp said.

McColley said: “The voters want competitive districts,” and “this map does that.”

Of the state’s 88 counties, 12 are split by congressional district lines. The constitutional amendment permitted up to 23 counties to be split.

The House Government Oversight Committee will vote today on the map. It is expected to be on the House floor for a vote Thursday. Nov. 30 is the deadline to vote on the map, but the Legislature is on recess after Wednesday.

Three lawsuits are before the Ohio Supreme Court over a state legislative map that allows Republicans to maintain supermajorities in the state House and Senate.

dskolnick@vindy.com

dskolnick@tribtoday.com