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Voters First campaign outlines Ohio's broken redistricting process in 13-minute press conference

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By MATTHEW CAIN
votersfirstohio.com


To the editor:

In a press conference lasting just 13 minutes, Voters First supporters showed how corrupt Ohio's redistricting process has become.

Emails showed that mapmakers changed northeast Ohio's 16th Congressional District in just 13 minutes and did so to accommodate a major campaign donor to Congressman Jim Renacci, a Wadsworth Republican who Voters First now calls "The 13-Minute Man."

The 16th District encompasses parts of Cuyahoga, Medina, Summit, Portage, Stark, and Wayne counties.

"Congressman Renacci benefitted from a system that allows politicians and lobbyists to carve up districts to protect themselves, their friends and their contributors," said Jim Slagle, head of the non-partisan Ohio Campaign for Accountable Redistricting.

Slagle produced emails showing that a top adviser to Speaker John Boehner asked for the change, and it took just 13 minutes for mapmakers to place The Timken Company headquarters into the congressional district.

Timken executives are prolific donors to GOP candidates and causes.

Mr. Slagle displayed two different maps the map of the 16th District as the politicians and special interests drew it, and a map drawn by a non-partisan competition, where balance, fairness, and compactness were valued and campaign contribution ignored.

Larry Bresler, who directs Organize Ohio, said today's system results in too many lawmakers who place political interests about the public's interest. He noted that a review of public records produced by the mapmakers shows no mention of concern for Ohio's citizens.

"We went through a mountain of emails and voters were not mentioned. Not once," he said.

"There is no discussion of how drawing any district will help move Ohio forward. There is no discussion of creating good-paying jobs, taking care of our seniors, or lowering college tuition."

Voters First is offering the people of Ohio a solution: Vote YES on Issue 2.

A YES vote is a vote to put the citizens back in charge. A YES on Issue 2 means taking power away from the Washington politicians and creating an honest, accountable system.

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