Ohio redistricting impasse continues as Republicans look to expand their advantage

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Republicans’ march toward unilaterally passing a congressional redistricting plan in November continued apace Tuesday, as the GOP-dominated Ohio Redistricting Commission convened for less than half an hour without accomplishing anything.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers said that while they’ve been negotiating behind closed doors on how to redraw Ohio’s 15 U.S. House seats for the next six years, the two sides are nowhere close to reaching any sort of bipartisan agreement.

While the Ohio Constitution requires the five Republicans on the seven-member redistricting commission to get Democratic votes in order to pass any redistricting plan, after Oct. 31 the constitution allows the GOP-dominated state legislature to pass a new congressional map without bipartisan