LaRose: Redistricting commission gets a 'C' grade

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – An attorney for Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office told a federal court Wednesday that LaRose would prefer to shift the May 3 primary election to a single election day n May 24.

LaRose is one of five Republicans on the seven-member Ohio Redistricting Commission, tasked with creating non-gerrymandered district maps for the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate.

On Monday night, the commission refused to accept any of the maps proposed by bipartisan mapmakers brought in to expedite the process, instead passing a modified district plan that had previously been ruled unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court – the third of three plans proposed by the Republican majority of the commission.

LaRose said those plans from the mapmakers came in too late for review.

“It would have been irresponsible for us to do that,” he said Wednesday. “Now, if the court had given us two weeks or three weeks, perhaps that process could have played out.”

When asked if the majority members of the commission took the process behind closed doors and excluded Democrats from the map-drawing process, LaRose responded, “Well, what happened was, in some cases, both parties had been unwilling to negotiate. That had been one of my frustrations.”

LaRose insists that as far back as September 2021, when the redistricting process began, he was hoping the two sides would work together. Democrats on the commission have insisted since the beginning that they were cut out of the process as the Republican majority passed three separate, unfairly balanced maps.

LaRose maintains that the commission did get the process right in the end.

“We have a provision in the (Ohio) constitution that says if you can’t reach a bipartisan agreement, which was my first goal, that there is a backup plan and that is that the commission can pass a four-year map,” he said.

LaRose added that the constitution allows the Republican majority to create a four-year map that favors and protects Republicans. He said what’s improper is the Ohio Supreme Court ordering the commission to create 45 Democrat-leaning districts.

He also accuses Democrats of engaging in a national strategy he called “sue until you’re blue,” saying the party files "activist lawsuits" with sympathetic courts in hopes of getting favorable rulings.

When asked what grade he would give the commission and the job it did, LaRose said, “You know what? A C. Passing but not exemplary.”

“Unfortunately, there are partisans on both sides that have dug in and said, ‘You know what, we have the majority so we can do what we want,’ and on the other side, they said, ‘Hey, we think we have the sympathy of the court, so we can do what we want,’” he said. “Unfortunately, when people aren’t at the table actually compromising and trying to come together, it becomes impossible to find that middle ground.”

The Ohio League of Women Voters and other voter advocacy groups are asking the Ohio Supreme Court to reject the commission passed by a 4-3 vote Monday.