Gerrymandering in Ohio

With the state of Ohio back in play for Hilary Clinton and the Democrat after Republican Donald Trump's precipitous fall from the top of the polls, many in the Democratic party were hoping to see a gain in seats. Due to extreme gerrymandering, do not hold your breath Democrats.  Richard Gunther who is a professor emeritus at the Ohio State University says that the Buckeye State has a special place in politics, ranking third out of 50 states for worst examples of gerrymandering (Pennsylvania and Virginia are ranked ahead for the dubious distinction). A great stat that shows the ridiculous lines that have been drawn is that "While Republican congressmen received 52 percent of the vote in 2012, Gunther said, they received 75 percent of the seats in the state". Even with high turnout, Democrat voters have little chance of swaying elections already predetermined.

This sad trend is likely to play out across the country and it will only be magnified in the battleground state of Ohio. I find it really interesting that both John Kasich, the GOP governor, and the Republican Secretary of State want to see gerrymandering as a thing of the past. I think that a lack of competitive House races is partially a reason we see such polarized positions in the current political sphere. It will be interesting to see if there will finally be a push to end this practice that belongs in the annals of history.

Something to keep an eye on is if Clinton is able to drive high voter turnout in places like Cleveland and Columbus to win Ohio. If there seems to be a decisive Democratic victory for the presidential race in the state with little change to the House structure, will there be a more public outcry to change redistricting laws? It will also offer more proof for those trying to make that claim there is indeed still systematic racism with practices such as gerrymandering that reduce minority voter power.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/10/23/election-2016--ohio-incumbents-are-shoo-ins-thanks-to-district-maps.html