COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine's office sent out notice Tuesday afternoon that he is reconvening the Ohio Redistricting Commission Wednesday at 3 p.m. The announcement comes after two attempts to start the process last week failed.
DeWine adjourned the commission meeting last Wednesday before members could do any work drawing maps because Republican Speaker of the House Jason Stephens and Republican Senate President Matt Huffman could not agree on who the Republican co-chair should be. A second meeting was cancelled for the same reason.
In a virtual news conference Tuesday morning before the meeting announcement came out, Democratic leaders criticized the Republican impasse.
"Every day we remain in recess threatens our ability to hold hearings and provide opportunities for the public to weigh in on maps and to conduct the redistricting process," Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio said.
Antonio and House Minority Leader Allison Russo also said they have been ready to get to work.
"We're here today to show the people that we as Democrats on the commission are here to work for them, that we are here to work with the majority, and that when we put party politics aside, there's no excuse for us not to deliver fair constitutional maps this time," Russo said.
The state Supreme Court ruled the last five redistricting maps unconstitutional because they unfairly gerrymandered in favor of Republicans.
In their news conference, Russo and Antonio also unveiled their newly drawn house and senate redistricting maps that they plan to present to the commission. They call them constitutional, fair and representative of Ohio voters.
"Our map represents and respects municipal and county boundaries while keeping communities of interest whole," Antonio said.
"The court made clear that our constitution requires legislative maps that actually reflect how Ohioans have voted in the last decade," Russo said.
A spokesman for Senate Republicans told 10TV News there were significant constitutional violations with the maps proposed by Democrats the last time, and Republicans on the commission haven't had an opportunity to review the new maps the democrats are proposing. He also said good faith negotiations continue.
Wednesday's Ohio Redistricting Commission meeting will be in the Rhodes State Office Tower.