While we wait for the Comm'n to come back, worth noting something:

Hired mappers (D and R) drew maps that were fair and could've gotten bipartisan support.

But the GOP just passed a set of maps that is 99.74% identical to the ones SCOhio just struck down as unconstitutional.
They changed just 5 districts on the maps and those changes still reflect 90-100% matches to the last set of maps that were passed on Feb 24 and that were struck down by the Court just 10 days ago.

Now, if it were me I wouldn't worked harder to change them, but WHAT DO I KNOW?!
Comm'n back in action.

Sykes moving for Comm'n to consider Johnson/McDonald maps (which were finished about 10 mins after GOP voted for their gerrymandered maps)

LaRose: how much time bc I have to direct BOEs (ACTUALLY SCOhio still has jurisdiction over this so you can't yet!)
Russo: Agree to accept Johnson/McDonald map because it's better at seat counts to reflect how Ohio votes and provides parity between D and R toss up seats (as opposed to GOP-passed maps that again stacked only Dems with toss ups).
Worth underscoring again & again that the Rs just lit $49k of taxpayer dollars on fire to pay McDonald and Johnson for tireless work in the last 5 days to pump out new maps in accord with the Court order.

That adds to legal bills for their NC lawyers that we're also paying for!
Heard Cupp is concerned with compactness, so perhaps he could explain why my neighborhood - just a 10min drive from the Statehouse in downtown Columbus - is paired with Circleville in this blue monster that stretches from urban to rural, overwhelmingly R areas of the state.
Heard DeWine is concerned about keeping communities of interest together, so maybe he could explain why he thinks it makes sense to crack apart Black communities in Trotwood from those who live in Dayton to drown them into an overwhelmingly white, rural, and GOP district.
Faber again lecturing us about how our political geography justifies partisan gerrymandering, so again let me say that that is just absolute bullshit.

Even taking our pol geo into account, YOU DON'T HAVE TO GERRYMANDER TO GIVE US #FAIRMAPS.
I'm - in full honesty - running really low on the mental health capacity it takes to withstand the absolute toxic gaslighting we're hearing from Faber who has the audacity to quote public testimony from Ohioans he and his GOP goons have ignored at every step of this process.
This work is fucking gutting. The fight for our democracy takes a toll on every aspect of your life if you're all the way in it like I've been especially for the last nearly 3 years.

And watching us find ourselves with another set of unconstitutional maps is just brutal.
Leader @Russo4Ohio is - again - spot on:

"The process and tactics have not changed since we started this process 7 months ago."

This was the GOP's plan from the jump - delay until the end, rush through gerrymandered maps, force us to vote under them by refusing to move primary.
SCOhio ordered the Commission - not parties - to draw an entirely new plan, Russo rightfully points out.

Instead what the GOP just did was pass a new set of map that is 99.7% identical to the ones that the Court just struck down as being unconstitutional.

Just...appalling.
"That said, in spite of everything that's just happened in the last few hours, I have hope that we can get this right," Leader @Russo4Ohio says looking directly at the audience with at least one teary-eyed person (me, it's me).

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Katy Shanahan

Katy Shanahan Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @KatyAShanahan

Mar 29
Good evening from the Ohio Statehouse where the GOP Gang of 5 on the Commission might force a vote on “fixed” maps that have been entirely invalidated by SCOhio just 10 days ago as being unconstitutionally gerrymandered.

No one has seen these maps & no public input will be taken
In case anyone needs a reminder about why we’re here - 5 days after independent mappers worked tirelessly to pump out new fair maps - it’s because the GOP refuses to accept reality that #FairMaps mean they lose power they don’t deserve in the first place.
Cannot possibly imagine SCOhio will enjoy watching the GOP brazenly ignore their clear order that instructed them to use outside mappers to - as an entire Comm'n with both Ds and Rs involved - help draw maps and to adopt them in a more bipartisan way.

Read 28 tweets
Mar 28
It appears like Huffman’s biggest concerns are how best to protect his GOP incumbents - in direct conflict with what SCOhio just told him 1.5 weeks ago was NOT an interest rooted in the constitution.
McDonald reminds everyone he told them from the jump he has to leave today at 5pm (in 20 minutes) to be in person to teach a class of his tomorrow.

😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫
Read 34 tweets
Mar 28
The Redistricting Commission has before it yet another reasonable set of state legislative maps to consider.

The only thing standing between Ohioans and #FairMaps is - as has always been the case - the GOP Gang of 5 insistent on gerrymandering our maps and undermining our vote. Image
My full statement (thread to follow):

The Republican Commissioners have had everything they need to draw fair maps for months: clear guidelines, a selection of perfectly reasonable maps to choose from, and Democratic colleagues ready and willing to negotiate.
Now the Commission has yet another set of reasonable state legislative maps before them that have been drawn by independent map drawers. Given all of this, any claims that Republicans do not have clarity on what it takes to draw fair maps are at best disingenuous.
Read 5 tweets
Mar 28
Good morning from the Ohio Statehouse on the day our fourth set of state legislative maps are due because the GOP refuses to pass the #FairMaps voters deserve and that our constitution requires.

Hearing pushed back already to 10:30am so…things are lookin’ good lol!
Additional context for today:

Faber was just in the mapping room saying he doesn't think they will land the plane today.

FWIW not landing the plane isn’t actually an option because LOL the Court ordered them to pass maps by today.

Tick tock, folks!
Hearing that this morning’s meeting, whenever it happens, will likely be short bc mappers just got incumbent data.

Again worth a reminder that #FairMaps should cater to the people and not to politicians!
Read 18 tweets
Mar 27
❗️REDISTRICTING HEARING❗️

Comm'n poised to meet today at 4pm to hear from outside mappers on their full drafts.

Reminder - #FairMaps have:

4️⃣5️⃣D House seats
1️⃣5️⃣D Sen seats

& (among those) toss ups that reflect the purple parts of Ohio (not given to just 1 party)
Here's out the ind mappers' maps stack up to those #FairMaps numbers:

McDonald House
51 safe R, 3 competitive lean R
42 safe D, 3 competitive lean D

Johnson House
53 safe R, 2 competitive lean R
41 safe D, 3 competitive lean D
And for Senate - here's how the ind mappers' map stack up to #FairMaps numbers:

McDonald Senate
18 safe R, 0 competitive lean R
13 safe D, 2 competitive lean D

Johnson Senate
17 safe R, 1 competitive lean R
13 safe D, 2 competitive lean D
Read 85 tweets
Mar 27
🗺 NEW MAPS ALERT 🗺

Eagerly awaiting public access to the independent mappers’ draft House and Senate maps, so we can try to analyze their impact on our communities and their constitutional compliance!
This is based on 2016-2020 statewide stage and federal election data (same data Commissioners use) and competitive seats fall somewhere between 48-52%.

Notice how many fewer toss ups there are and how evenly split they are between Ds and Rs.

Rs have some ‘splaining to do 😳
And seat counts for the Senate - again way fewer toss ups and evenly split between Ds and Rs.

By numbers alone, these are a good sign. Still digging into what maps actually look like - hard to do without Dave’s links ngl 🙃
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(