Ohio’s redistricting commission on Friday approved a new House map that could help Republicans pick up two seats in the 2026 midterm elections, including one held by the longest-serving woman in congressional history.
While Republicans hold a majority on the commission, the new map represented a bipartisan compromise between the two sides. Its adoption also avoids shifting mapmaking control to the Republican-led state legislature, which could have drawn an even more favorable map for the GOP.
Ohio Republicans currently hold 10 of the state’s 15 House seats and would be favored in as many as 12 districts under the new lines.
Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the dean of the Buckeye State delegation who was first elected in 1982, would see her already competitive 9th District in Northwest Ohio transform into one that would have backed Donald Trump by 11 points, according to Dave’s Redistricting App. Trump carried her current district by 7 points last fall, calculations by Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales show.
The other Democrat to get a redder seat is second-term Rep. Greg Landsman, whose Cincinnati-anchored 1st District now extends east into more Republican territory. While Kamala Harris carried his current district by 6 points, Trump would have finished ahead by 3 points under the new map.
Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Emilia Sykes would see her 13th District, which includes Akron and Canton, become bluer, with Harris’ winning margin shifting from less than a tenth of a point to 3 points.
Kaptur, 79, said Friday that she would seek a 23rd term next year.
“I remain committed to serving Northwest Ohio and will seek re-election with a renewed focus on accountability and protecting the voice of the people,” she said on social media. “Let the Columbus politicians make their self-serving maps and play musical chairs, I will fight on for the people and ask the voters for their support next year.”
Kaptur has already drawn several Republican challengers, including former state Rep. Derek Merrin, whom she defeated by less than a point last year, state Rep. Josh Williams and Air Force veteran Alea Nadeem. Ohio Senate President Rob McColley has also been mentioned as a potential contender, and the new 9th District includes his home, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
Ohio is only the latest state to redraw its congressional map in Republicans’ favor this year, following moves by Texas, Missouri and North Carolina. Indiana and Kansas are also expected to convene special sessions on redistricting next month. But those states have acted at the behest of Trump and his allies to bolster House Republicans’ chances of picking up seats and defending their narrow majority.
Ohio, in contrast, was required to enact a new map under its state constitution. The current map could only be used for two cycles as it was drawn by the GOP-led legislature ahead of the 2022 elections.
The redistricting commission faced a Friday deadline to approve a bipartisan map or throw control of the redistricting process to the legislature. But while Republican state legislators were expected to approve a more partisan map, Democrats would have been able to launch a signature-gathering effort to place the map on the 2026 ballot, freezing it for next year.
The compromise map adopted Friday, which is not subject to a referendum, was seen as a way to mitigate those risks for both sides.
“What Republicans will get out of this is a sure map, that will be done, both sides get that,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, one of five Republicans on the seven-member redistricting commission, said Thursday, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.
The campaign arm of House Democrats appeared to acknowledge Friday that they could have gotten a more unfavorable map.
“While this is not a fair map for Ohio voters, I commend Ohio Legislative Democratic Leadership for negotiating to prevent an even more egregious gerrymander,” said Washington Rep. Suzan DelBene, the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “This compromise keeps us on the path to taking back the House Majority.”
DelBene identified three potential GOP targets, saying the new map allowed Democrats to expand “offensively to hold Republicans Mike Turner, Max Miller, and Mike Carey accountable.”
All three, however, continue to represent districts that would have backed Trump by double digits in 2024.
Virginia Democrats move forward
Across the country, Democrats have attempted to counter Republicans’ middecade redistricting efforts with moves of their own, though they have fewer options.
California Democrats responded to Texas’ move by redrawing their state’s map in a quest to win additional seats, although voters would need to approve that plan next week via a ballot measure before it can be implemented.
Several Democrat-led states are hampered by laws that hand over redistricting powers to independent commissions. One state trying to get around that is Virginia, where Democratic legislators took a first step this week toward potentially getting a new map next year.
The Democrat-led Virginia Senate on Friday approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow legislators to temporarily redraw the commonwealth’s congressional lines in Democrats’ favor. The Virginia House of Delegates had advanced the amendment earlier during this week’s special legislative session.
For the plan to work, though, Virginia Democrats would need to retain their majority in the state House in next week’s elections and then approve the constitutional amendment again next year. They could then call for a referendum to allow Virginia voters to decide. Such a referendum may not take place until May, The Washington Post reported.
Virginia Republicans, who have panned the amendment process as a power grab, filed a lawsuit challenging the Democrat-led actions earlier this week. A judge rejected their request to stop the special session, though the lawsuit moves forward.
Democrats hold six of the commonwealth’s 11 congressional seats under the current court-approved map.
Rep. Derek Merrin’s name was corrected in this report.
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