REPORT: Three Top Democrats On Track To Lose Their Seats

While the redistricting battle in Texas is coming to an end, the GOP already has its next target in its sights amid a nationwide operation to gain more seats in the House ahead of the midterms next year.

In the Buckeye State, Ohio lawmakers are gearing up to launch a rather complex and lengthy redistricting process, a requirement due to the GOP passing the current map that exists without any Democratic support. However, should the plan prove successful, Republicans could gain an additional three House districts.

While the map redraw in the state was already planned, the stakes have been raised by the recent state-by-state battles going on in the country.

“Ohio is moving right and red, rapidly,” Ohio Republican Party State Central Committeeman Tony Schroeder went on to say. “So I think that’s going to be reflected in the design of the new maps.”

But this doesn’t mean Democrats are simply going to roll over. In fact, seeing Democrats in Texas flee in order to prevent their state from taking a vote on a redrawn map has energized Ohio Democrats who are now calculating a means of offering pushback.

“It’s a fight that we know how to fight, and it’s a fight that we’re ready to fight again,” Democratic state Rep. Tristan Rader said about the GOP redistricting effort.

“But the Ohio lawmakers face more obstacles than the Texans to mounting an opposition to a GOP gerrymander. Ohio Republicans hold a supermajority in the state legislature, meaning Democrats lack enough members to deny quorum and the GOP can ultimately push through a map on partisan lines,” Politico reported.

Ohio Democrats then have two choices: try for a court order finding that shows the lines were illegally drawn, or put on a campaign for a referendum, led by citizens, to repeal the map.

“Folks are going to be watching very closely and carefully and advocating on this,” Jocelyn Rosnick, chief policy and advocacy officer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, explained.“There is a lot of energy in Ohio. Redistricting obviously is in the spotlight right now because of Texas, but it feels like people in Ohio haven’t stopped talking about redistricting for the better part of a decade.”

State law says that legislators need to secure a bipartisan supermajority in order to have a congressional map approved. If that happens, the map is then valid for a decade between a census. If it fails, it’s handed off to a seven-member commission.

If the commission’s map fails to secure enough Democratic votes, the process is sent back to the legislature, where it simply needs a majority to pass into law. However, the final option is the one most likely to happen. Under the stricter rules, Republicans could wind up with three more seats.

Democrat Reps. Emilia Sykes, Marcy Kaptur, and Greg Landsman are slated to lose their seats should the GOP’s plan ultimately come to fruition.