December 19

An Ohio redistricting post-mortem: editorial

Published: Saturday, December 17, 2011, 7:37 AM

By The Plain Dealer Editorial Board The Plain Dealer

Ohio lawmakers have mercifully ended the tawdry Statehouse war over new congressional district boundaries. The best that can be said for Substitute House Bill 369, which Gov. John Kasich signed Thursday, is that Ohio will now hold one 2012 statewide primary election (March 6), not two.
As to the 16 districts, Republicans conceded some face-saving tweaks to Democrats, including a better chance for two African-American representatives to go to Washington and a less fractured Dayton area. The tweaks also leave U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur's Toledo base more intact -- and thus more challenging to win for Cleveland's Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who loses only a part of his base in the reshuffling (and no one should write off Kucinich, who has more political lives than a cat).
http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2011/12/an_ohio_redistricting_post-mor.html