On their last day of work this year, state lawmakers have overwhelmingly approved a new map of Congressional districts and a new single date for the two statewide primaries that were scheduled next year. But as Ohio Public Radio’s Karen Kasler reports, the map flap finally came to an end in marathon sessions of the House and Senate.
The proposal to hold the primaries for state lawmakers, the US Senate, Congress and president on March 6 also makes some minor changes to the existing Republican drawn Congressional map, establishes a December 30 filing deadline for presidential and Congressional primary candidates, and Republican Rep. Matt Huffman said it creates a bipartisan redistricting task force.
“Maybe it’s a little bit of a Christmas gift to the state of Ohio," says Huffman.
Some Democrats voted against the bill. Rep. Bob Hagan of Youngstown said the map still isn’t fair.
“The real gift that we gave everybody was a slap in the face of democracy,” says Hagan.
In press releases after the vote, the chairs of the Ohio GOP and the Ohio Democratic Party both gave credit to their lawmakers for creating the bipartisan task force and for saving taxpayers the 15 million dollar cost of the June primary.