There’s plenty of political fallout from Ohio’s approval last Friday of a new Ohio congressional map. As Andrew wrote immediately following the vote, the bottom line is that Republicans now stand a much better chance of winning 12 of Ohio’s 15 congressional seats, up from the 10 they currently hold. But neither party is completely happy.
When you drill down, there are plenty of examples of drama:
The 13th District
Republican Kevin Coughlin quit the 13th Congressional District race shortly after the maps were approved. Coughlin, who was looking for a rematch with Democratic Rep. Emilia Sykes after narrowly losing in 2024, tried to lobby Republicans privately to redraw the district to make it more Republican. But the final map did the opposite.
Bryan Williams, chair of the Summit County Republican Party, said he thinks the district leans so Democratic that it will be hard to recruit candidates.
“I’m disappointed,” he said about Republicans behind the deal. “I think they were weak.”
The 1st District
Dani Isaacsohn, a young Cincinnati Democrat in the Ohio House, is under fire for his role in shaping the map. Local Democrats are angry because it turns the Democratic-leaning district represented by Cincinnati Rep. Greg Landsman into a Republican-leaning one.
Among those upset by Isaacsohn are David Pepper, the former Ohio Democratic Party chair, and Landsman himself, according to a local Democrat who described the local dynamics to Signal.
“Greg is very angry. It is a problem for Dani,” the Democrat said.
Isaacsohn, who’s up for reelection next year, defended his work on Wednesday.
“It wasn’t my favorite thing to do to have to vote on a gerrymandered map. … But it was a clear choice and the right thing to do,” he said.
In an interview, Alex Linser, the chair of the Hamilton County Democratic Party, said there’s no time to dwell.
“We’ve got to look forward, and we’ve got to focus on trying to hold this seat next year,” he said.
The 9th District
As Andrew previously reported, Rob McColley, the Republican Senate leader, has been gearing up for a run for Congress thanks to the new maps. The new 9th Congressional District reshapes Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s district. It’s now more Republican-leaning and includes McColley’s hometown and much of his current Senate district. (One Republican described McColley’s “strong interest” in running and told Signal he may decide within the next week or two.) McColley would join a crowded primary that also includes last year’s GOP nominee, Derek Merrin.
McColley, who helped lead redistricting negotiations for Republicans, denied Wednesday that the district was drawn for him.
“I think a lot of that stuff is just basically people wanting to put little feelers out there to try to see how much traction it gets,” he said.
Shortly after the new map was approved, Kaptur confirmed she’ll run for reelection in a post on X, the social media platform. Her statement blasted the “self-interested politicians” who cut the redistricting deal. (Take your pick about whom she’s talking about.) She referenced political “musical chairs” — which is seen as a thinly veiled shot at McColley.
Voters say yes to local tax increases
Tuesday’s election results, perhaps surprisingly, betrayed the notion that Ohioans are fed up with high local property taxes.
Voters around Ohio renewed 55 of 60 pre-existing school levies, according to the Ohio School Boards Association. However, they approved only 15 of 45 new levies, four of seven substitute levies, and three of nine bond issues.
All told, that’s a 66% win rate. Not too shabby, in OSBA’s opinion.
“A school board doesn’t place a levy on the ballot lightly,” OSBA CEO Tom Hosler said in a statement.
“Each question represents months of discussion about how to meet student needs while respecting a community’s ability to pay. When a levy is rejected, it isn’t failure — it’s feedback. That exchange between schools and voters is the essence of local government and democracy.”
Libraries had a big Election Day – 18 of 20 local library levies won around the state, according to the Ohio Library Council. Those included bond issues, renewals, replacements and one additional levy.
“Voters clearly recognize that their local libraries deliver exceptional value and play an essential role in their communities,” said Michelle Francis, executive director of the Ohio Library Council.
Levies for mental and behavioral health services, including addiction treatment, did well, with 13 of 14 passing across the state, according to a preliminary count from Deanna Vietze. She leads both Brown County’s board and the statewide association of alcohol, drug addiction and mental health boards.
Trouble for Ohio’s LGBTQ+ lobby
Amid a post-2024 cultural backlash, Equality Ohio, the state’s preeminent LGBTQ lobby, is feeling the strain.
Six full-time workers were fired, including “the entire local advocacy team, communications, and part of the legal clinic staff,” according to a statement from CMRJB Workers United, a union representing the staffers.
“We are working closely with Union leaders to assess next steps. We want our community to know that the Equality Ohio Legal Clinic remains open and serving LGBTQ+ Ohioans, and that our commitment to this movement does not end with our paychecks,” the union said in a statement.
Dwayne Steward, CEO of Equality Ohio, said in a statement the organization only laid off four full-time employees. He didn’t say why or explain the discrepancy. He said Equality Ohio will “remain steadfast in our resolve and will continue to fight for LGBTQ+ Ohioans who are under attack now more than ever.”
The layoffs come amid policy changes in Ohio and an array of red states passing laws restricting legal recognition and health care access for transgender children and adults.
A slow-burning corruption trial with 17 defense lawyers
After the FBI arrested ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder at his farm in July of 2020, the FirstEnergy bribery scandal was the center of gravity of Ohio politics and statewide media.
Householder is now in prison, but after more than five years, the two FirstEnergy executives accused of waging two separate multimillion-dollar bribery schemes still haven’t had their day in court.
That day is coming in late January. But our Jake Zuckerman, who has been on the byzantine FirstEnergy legal beat all the while, has a close look at the slowly progressing criminal case and the well-heeled defense’s neverending push to keep more and more of the trial evidence a secret.
Catch up on what Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who made an unusual cameo appearance at a hearing in Akron last week, called the “case of the century” here.