Ohio Supreme Court won't review congressional map until after May 3 primary

The Ohio Supreme Court won't decide whether a Republican-crafted congressional district map violates anti-gerrymandering rules in the Ohio Constitution until after the May 3 primary.

The court, which struck down a previous congressional map, set a schedule Tuesday for reviewing the one passed by Republicans on the Ohio Redistricting Commission in early March. The 62-day window extends into late May – weeks after the primary is scheduled.

That means the map will likely appear on Ohio voters' May 3 primary ballots.

The map includes 10 Republican-leaning districts, three Democratic-leaning districts and two tossups in Cincinnati and Toledo. Republicans could win the Akron-based Democratic district in a competitive year.  

Former Attorney General Eric Holder's National Redistricting Action Fund had asked for a speedier turnaround on reviewing the map. In the Tuesday decision, Justices Sharon Kennedy, Pat Fischer and Pat DeWine, all Republicans, argued there was no reason to rush.

"There is no reason to expedite this case. At this juncture, it is abundantly clear that this case will not be litigated prior to the 2022 primary election," they wrote. Kennedy is running for chief justice against Justice Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat. 

The only question is whether a trio of federal judges will move the entire primary to accommodate state House and Senate districts, which won't make the ballot. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, in a Monday filing, said the judges could move the primary for those races to May 24 at the earliest and Aug. 2 at the latest. 

Holder's lawsuit and one filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio took different approaches to challenge the congressional map. The former wanted it rejected before the May 3 primary; the latter was challenging the map for 2024. On Tuesday, the court consolidated the cases.

Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Akron Beacon Journal, Cincinnati Enquirer, Columbus Dispatch and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

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