An Ohio panel adopted new U.S. House districts on Friday that could boost the GOP’s chances of winning two additional seats in next year’s elections and aid President Donald Trump’s efforts to hold on to a slim congressional majority.
The action by the Ohio Redistricting Commission came as Virginia's Democratic-led General Assembly advanced a proposed constitutional amendment that could pave the way for redistricting in the state ahead of the 2026 congressional elections. That measure needs another round of legislative approval early next year before it can go to voters.
Trump has been urging Republican-led states to reshape their U.S. House districts in an attempt to win more seats. But unlike in other states, Ohio’s redistricting was required by the state constitution because the current districts were adopted after the 2020 census without bipartisan support.
Ohio joins Texas, Missouri and North Carolina, where Republican lawmakers already have revised congressional districts.
Democrats have been pushing back. California voters are deciding Tuesday on a redistricting plan passed by the Democratic-led Legislature.
The political parties are in an intense battle, because Democrats need to gain just three seats in next year's election to win control of the House and gain the power to impede Trump’s agenda.
In a rare bit of bipartisanship, Ohio's new map won support from all five Republicans and both Democrats on the redistricting panel. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee praised the Ohio Democrats “for negotiating to prevent an even more egregious gerrymander” benefiting Republicans.
Republicans hold 10 of Ohio's 15 congressional seats. The new map could boost their chances in already competitive districts currently held by Democratic Reps. Greg Landsman in Cincinnati and Marcy Kaptur near Toledo. Kaptur won a 22nd term last year by about 2,400 votes, or less than 1 percentage point, in a district carried by Trump. Landsman won reelection with more than 54% of the vote.
National Democrats said they expect to hold both targeted districts and compete to flip three other Republican seats.
Ohio residents criticize new map
Ohio's commission had faced a Friday deadline to adopt a new map, or the task would have fallen to the GOP-led Legislature, which could have crafted districts even more favorable to Republicans. Any redistricting bill passed by the Legislature could have been subject to an initiative petition campaign from opponents forcing a public referendum on the new map.
That uncertainty provided commissioners of both parties with some incentive for compromise. House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn, a Democratic commissioner, said the deal "averts the disaster that was coming our way” with a potential 13-2 map favoring Republicans. And Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, another commissioner, said it avoided a costly battle over a referendum that could have delayed the state's primaries.
But Ohio residents who testified to commissioners Friday denounced the new districts. Julia Cattaneo, whose shirt proclaimed, “gerrymandering is cheating,” said the new map is gerrymandered for Republicans more than the one it is replacing and is not the sort of compromise needed.
“Yes, you are compromising — your integrity, honor, duty and to represent Ohioans,” she said.
Added resident Scott Sibley: “This map is an affront to democracy, and you should all — every one of you — be ashamed."
Republican Auditor Keith Farber, a commission member, defended the map during a testy exchange with one opponent. Because many Democrats live in cities and many Republicans in rural areas, he said there was no way to draw eight Republican and seven Democratic districts — as some had urged — without splitting cities, counties and townships.
Virginia Democrats point at Trump to defend redistricting
Virginia is represented in the U.S. House by six Democrats and five Republicans. Democratic lawmakers haven’t unveiled their planned new map, nor how many seats they will try to gain, but said their moves are necessary to respond to the Trump-inspired gerrymandering in Republican-led states.
“Our voters are asking to have that voice. They’re asking that we protect democracy, that we not allow gerrymandering to happen throughout the country, and we sit back,” Democratic Sen. Barbara Favola said.
The proposed constitutional amendment would let lawmakers temporarily bypass a bipartisan commission and redraw congressional districts to their advantage. The Senate's approval Friday followed House approval Wednesday.
The developments come as Virginia holds elections Tuesday, where all 100 state House seats are on the ballot. Democrats would need to keep their slim majority to advance the constitutional amendment again next year. It then would go to a statewide referendum.
Republican Sen. Mark Obenshain said Democrats were ignoring the will of voters who overwhelmingly approved the bipartisan redistricting commission.
“Heaven forbid that we actually link arms and work together on something,” Obenshain said. “What the voters of Virginia said is, ‘We expect redistricting to be an issue that we work across the aisle on, that we link arms on.’”
But Democratic Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, who has long championed the bipartisan redistricting commission, noted it still would be responsible for redistricting after the 2030 census.
“We’re not trying to end the practice of fair maps," he said. "We are asking the voters if, in this one limited case, they want to ensure that a constitutional-norm-busting president can’t break the entire national election by twisting the arms of a few state legislatures.”
Indiana and Kansas could be next
Republican Indiana Gov. Mike Braun called a special session to begin Monday to redraw congressional districts, currently held by seven Republicans and two Democrats. But lawmakers don’t plan to begin work on that day. Although it’s unclear exactly when lawmakers will convene, state law allows 40 days to complete a special session.
In Kansas, Republican lawmakers are trying to collect enough signatures from colleagues to call themselves into a special session on congressional redistricting beginning Nov. 7. Senate President Ty Masterson says he has the necessary two-thirds vote in the Senate, but House Republicans have at least a few holdouts. The petition is necessary because Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly isn’t likely to call a session to redraw the current districts, held by three Republicans and one Democrat.
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Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri; Scolforo from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Diaz from Richmond, Virginia. John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, and Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan, contributed.
