The Map…Continues To Rile

A fast-tracked map of Ohio’s new congressional districts continues its breakneck pace through the Republican-controlled state Legislature. The 15-district map cleared the Senate Tuesday, only about 16 hours after it was unveiled. Democrats, voting-rights groups and scholars say the map is gerrymandered to favor the GOP. It divides populous counties…the respective homes to Cleveland and Cincinnati and their concentrations of Democratic voters…three ways each. Franklin County, home to Columbus, is divided two ways. The map also draws the western Cleveland suburbs in Lorain County into a district that stretches to the Indiana border, a nearly 3-hour drive. Due to lagging population, Ohio will lose one seat in Congress, next year…taking it from 16 to 15.