The 2006 Election & Ohio Gerrymandering

[Schmajo]

Not a bad article in the Dogpatch

12/3/06

http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/12/03/20061203-A1-02.html

“***
While Democrats won nearly 53 percent of the congressional votes statewide, only about 39 percent of Ohioans will be represented next year by Democrats in Congress.
***
Aided by gerrymandering — the drawing of districts to favor one party — Republicans captured 11 of the state’s 18 congressional seats, assuming that GOP Rep. Deborah Pryce, of Upper Arlington, survives a recount in the 15 th District. If she does, all three House members representing Franklin County will be Republicans.
***
Such is the reality of politics and power in Ohio after two straight rounds of congressional redistricting — after the censuses in 1990 and 2000 — controlled by the state GOP. The 2006 midterm elections underscore just how much the party in power can insulate its candidates.
***
Generally, the party drawing the lines gains an advantage through gerrymandering techniques known as ‘cracking and packing,’ in which voters from the other party are either spread thin, diluting their effectiveness, or packed together, giving a district an unnecessarily heavy Democratic or Republican tilt.
***”

Nice sidebar graphic showing vote by Ohio CD
http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/12/03/20061203-A4-04.html

[MeDeMax]

1. nice post thanks -- it cuts both ways though !

there are areas in other parts of the country where the dems did this to repubs.

I cant remember which issue it was, but in 2005 Ohioians had a chance to pass an
issue on the ballot which would have setup a bipartisan commission to redistrict
fairly, creating a competitive landscape.

As you know it failed.

[MeDeMax]

2. if ISSUE 4 had passed in 2005

this would not happen in the future, where franklin county ends up
being represented by 3 repubs in congress.

Results of Issue 4 in 2005 :

http://www.smartvoter.org/2005/11/08/oh/state/issue/4/

On a separate note, I commend whoever pulled off the "NO on 4 & YES on 5"
this year, it was a challenging campaign but they did it.

Too bad that "Reform Ohio Now", that was behind 3 4 & 5 in 2005, was
unable to educate the voters as effectively.

[dsc]

3. It was a good article but it did some of the usual journalistic mistakes

Iowa doesn't have a paritisan drawn map which should have been mentioned. Secondly, you can't get an exact partisan representation, especially in a small state. Iowa only has 5 districts. A 3 to 2 division in favor of the people who got the most votes is hardly out of line.