Republicans are negotiating with Democrats over the future of Ohio’s three most competitive congressional districts. But lawmakers are unlikely to publicly reveal a new map this month unless a bipartisan deal takes shape, according to Rep. Brian Stewart, a Republican who is the co-leader of the Ohio Redistricting Commission, a panel of elected officials that met for the first time on Tuesday.
If negotiations over the three districts don’t result in a deal, Republicans will just approve a map in November, Stewart said, when the state’s redistricting rules no longer require bipartisanship. Such a map almost certainly would help Republicans win extra seats beyond the 10 of 15 Ohio districts they currently hold.
What happens to these districts could help determine which party controls the U.S. House, where Republicans currently hold a slim majority.
“You don’t have to squint your eyes very hard to see the contours of a deal,” Stewart said, referring to the three Democratic-held districts, which are anchored in Akron, Cincinnati and Toledo.
Stewart’s comments, offered to reporters following a brief redistricting commission meeting, were the most substantive offered by any Republican leader during the ongoing redistricting process.
Ohio is redrawing its map because the current one, approved by Republicans in 2022 without Democratic support, automatically expires in 2026 under state rules.
Negotiations are unfolding in a highly politicized climate, as President Donald Trump has pressured Republican-controlled states, including Indiana, Missouri and Texas to gerrymander maps to help Republicans add extra seats in Congress.
Democrats have responded by moving to do the same in California and New York. Ohio is the only state that is actually scheduled to redraw its maps.
Democrats prepare for referendum campaign
Stewart said the talks mostly involved the two Republican legislative leaders, Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman and Senate President Rob McColley, and the two Democratic leaders, Rep. Dani Isaacsohn and Sen. Nickie Antonio.
Both Isaacsohn and Antonio testified at Tuesday’s brief hearing about a Democratic proposed map that Republicans have rejected. They also doubled down on their threats to launch a campaign to repeal a Republican-only map. The referendum threat provides Democrats, who are in the deep minority in Columbus, with their only real piece of leverage to bring Republicans to the table.
Antonio told reporters that the U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is investigating a possible referendum campaign to block a new Republican-drawn map. The process would involve collecting roughly 250,000 voter signatures within 90 days after a map is passed. This would follow a scenario in which Republicans indeed wait until November to approve a map, and would place the 90-day deadline sometime in February. A Monday report by Punchbowl News, which covers Congress, described Jeffries as “preparing to fundraise and increase awareness for a potential signature-gathering effort.”
If Democrats and their allies collect enough signatures, a statewide vote on whether to repeal the map would be held in November 2026, and district lines could be frozen in place until voters decide. Although Republicans and Democrats would fight out the specifics in court.
“It’s not guaranteed that we have to go that direction,” Isaacsohn said. “But I do think it’s been very clear from around the country and around the state that there is energy and momentum for a referendum, if it has to come to that.”
Stewart wouldn’t say whether Democrats’ threat will sway Republican thinking. But he said left-leaning groups spent $40 million last year unsuccessfully pushing a redistricting reform amendment that voters soundly rejected.
“Be careful what you ask for in a referendum in a state that Donald Trump won by 12 points,” Stewart said.
Democrats, meanwhile, were tight-lipped when asked if they’ve privately discussed the possibility of agreeing to give up some seats.
“It’s been very general, to almost ‘Can we even agree to sit down in the room or not?’ Really, really, it’s been a very general process right now,” Antonio said.
Suggested Reading
More about the districts in question
Republicans and Democrats are haggling over Ohio’s 1st, 9th and 13th Congressional Districts.
The 1st Congressional District is the most Democratic-leaning of the three, and is represented by Rep. Greg Landsman of Cincinnati. Trump lost the district last November by 6 percentage points.
The 9th Congressional District is the most Republican-leaning, and is represented by longtime Rep. Marcy Kaptur, of Toledo. Trump won the district by six percentage points last year.
The 13th Congressional District is the most competitive of the three. Akron Rep. Emilia Sykes won the district by 2 percentage points last November, while then-Vice President Kamala Harris won it by fewer than 100 votes.
The next most competitive district is the 15th Congressional District, which contains part of Columbus. Republican Rep. Mike Carey represents the district, which Trump won last year by 9 percentage points. Ohio’s other congressional districts all are represented by Republicans, and are far less competitive.