Thread by @DavidPepper

URGENT THREAD: Fighting Karl Rove's effort to rig Ohio districts for another decade -- please help

Stories across the US have exploded with the news that Karl Rove is once again meddling in Ohio politics.

Here's a crucial thread on why, what's at stake & how you can help:

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Some background: heading into 2010, Ohio was coming off being a blue state in 2006 and 2008, including Dems holding the statehouse majority

But Republicans, more than most Dems, appreciated what was at stake, and through a plan called REDMAP...

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REDMAP

...they focused on the levers of power in key states that would draw the legislative districts for the coming decade

I saw this firsthand in Ohio. I was the Dem candidate for auditor (one of the positions on our apportionment board)

I was endorsed by almost every paper..

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....and had raised four or five times my opponent (Yost, who was an unknown county prosecutor back then), BUT late in the game, a ton of GOP money flooded in to attack me w false ads.

Yost beat me by 5, Kasich won by 2, and that gave them control of the board....

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...that gerrymandered the hell out of the state legislative districts for the next decade.

Not to be outdone, the GOP state legislature in 2011 also drew the most gerrymandered Congressional districts in Ohio history as well, also for the next decade.

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Importantly, in a 4-3 decision, the then Ohio Supreme Court upheld the gerrymandered map.

A bipartisan group of 3 justices dissented, including current Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor.

But that set the stage for a decade where almost every election result is pre-ordained

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It's so bad that in 2018, the state breakdown in statehouse voting was 50%R-49%D, yet the rigged GOP districts still secured a GOP supermajority in Columbus.

And a 52R-47D breakdown in voting for Congress led to the same 12-4 district breakdown we've had all decade.

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But it's worse than just the numbers.

Gerrymandering is the key to the stranglehold that extremists have on the OH legislature--whether that extremism takes the form of attacks on Dr. Acton, choice, public schools or any effort to bring common sense gun safety to our state

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Gerrymandering also creates the lack of accountability that is central to the culture of corruption that leads to scandal after scandal in Columbus, all of which everyday Ohioans pay for in incalculable ways

And then there's the likes of Jim Jordan, Nino Vitale and others...

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...whom gerrymandering creates a safe space for to do the terrible things they do every day with no accountability.

ALL of this came because in 2010, REDMAP and right-wing interest groups rigged Ohio's districts for the decade.

And because it was upheld by a 4-3 Court

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The good news is that OH voters got sick of having no say in their elections.

So twice, by 70-30 margins, we voted to amend the OH constitution to banish partisan gerrymandering from Ohio politics.

That has permanent implications for the state, as well as for the nation.

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So why is this election so important?

Because 2021 will be the first year that this new language will be applied and enforced.

And the Ohio Supreme Court will be the one to enforce it.

The result of that decision will not only last a decade. It will last forever.

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This moment therefore represents a chance to banish, once & for all, the greatest cause of OH's broken, corrupt politics.

A fair court, simply enforcing the citizens' mandate and the new Ohio language, will get that done, as in other states.

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pubintlaw.org/cases-and-proj…

And THIS is why Karl Rove is now swooping in to save the day for the big corporate interests and extremists who have owned Ohio for a decade.

And the same group that led REDMAP in 2010? It's the one now smearing Judge Brunner with ads paid for by those big-money interests.

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Now why would they be so confident in their support of Judge French, Brunner's opponent?

Hmmm.

Maybe it's because a few years back, she publicly PLEDGED to be the "backstop" of the GOP legislature.

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dispatch.com/article/201410…

A judge is supposed to be independent. To read and apply the constitution.

But French's pledge is to be the "backstop" for the body that draws the Congressional lines that will affect the Congress for the next decade. Not to mention so many other laws.

No thank you!

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The last thing this corrupt, broken legislature needs is any kind of "backstop," especially when it comes to drawing districts, and especially when the voters spoke so loudly about ending gerrymandering.

But of course, that's exactly what Rove and the REDMAP people want.

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So now Rove and the REDMAP people are swooping into Ohio to overturn the people's will and control Ohio for another decade, with consequences that will last far longer.

That's the bad news.

What's the good news?

Read on....

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radio.wosu.org/post/gops-karl…

The good news is that WE CAN STOP THEM.

Our two candidates for the court--Jennifer Brunner and John O'Donnell--have been within the margin of error or ahead in every poll.

If they win, we flip the court, and a fair court can stand against any cynical attempt to thwart..

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...the people's will for another decade. And because the ban against partisan gerrymandering is new, the consequence of any decision will last beyond this decade

BUT...we need your help to fight back against Rove & the REDMAP attack ads now running

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secure.actblue.com/donate/stop-oh…

We are up on TV and digital to support our candidates, but we need more.

We need to counter the smears. We need get out vote out, & be sure folks know the importance of voting for our candidates

And we have a fund where you can give to do this:

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secure.actblue.com/donate/stop-oh…

If you want to fix Ohio politics for the decade and beyond; if you want to be able to hold nuts like Jim Jordan and Nino Vitale accountable; if you want to reverse the slow decline in Ohio brought on by the corrupt statehouse, we need you RIGHT NOW

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secure.actblue.com/donate/stop-oh…

Please give what you can right now.

Please RT and share this as widely as possible.

Ohio is a great state. A swing state.

We will not let Karl Rove rig our outcomes for another decade.

We will not get RedMapped again.

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secure.actblue.com/donate/stop-oh…

These races are both winnable, but we won't win them without a fight.

Please do whatever you can. Then RT and spread the word.

Thank you.

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secure.actblue.com/donate/stop-oh…