海角大神

When Chief Justice Maureen O鈥機onnor was asked about her retirement plans after 12 years presiding over Ohio鈥檚 Supreme Court, she invoked an Italian phrase: dolce far niente 鈥� the sweetness of doing nothing.

Instead, a week later she began working on a long-shot ballot proposal that would upend how the state鈥檚 political seats are decided. That was January 2023. Now comes the moment of truth.

Republicans who dominate state government have fine-tuned the drawing of boundaries to maximize the number of districts where Democrats have virtually no chance of winning. That has enabled them to deliver veto-proof majorities in the legislature, despite averaging only 54% of votes cast.

Ms. O鈥機onnor, a Republican who served as lieutenant governor before being elected to the state鈥檚 highest court in 2002, has become a prominent champion for reforming that boundary-drawing process in Ohio. That has pitted her against erstwhile GOP allies.

In November, voters will be asked if they want to loosen politicians鈥� control over redistricting. The ballot proposal that Ms. O鈥機onnor shaped would empower an independent citizens commission to determine political boundaries.

Only a handful of other states have such a commission. Should the proposal pass, Ohio could become a test case for how a red state weighs the political voice of majority and minority factions. Proponents say a fairer redistricting process led by citizens would boost civic engagement and elevate lawmakers who work across the aisle. However, experts warn that creating more representative districts can be challenging.

The stakes are high for politicians across Ohio鈥檚 increasingly polarized political spectrum and for reformers in other states trying to defuse their own redistricting battles.

Her solution for a 鈥榖roken鈥� system

As chief justice, Ms. O鈥機onnor sided repeatedly with three Democrat justices in 2022 to strike down maps submitted by the state鈥檚 GOP-led redistricting commission. The court ruled that the maps for state and federal districts were unconstitutional and ordered the commission to draw representative districts. Three other Republican justices dissented.

The impasse was ended by a federal court ruling that Ohio had to adopt one of the rejected maps for the 2022 cycle.

鈥淭he system is broken,鈥� Ms. O鈥機onnor says. 鈥淪even unconstitutional maps prove that.鈥�

Her solution is to put 15 citizens, divided equally among Republicans, Democrats, and independents, in charge, working toward a common goal of producing maps that better reflect voters鈥� political preferences. Had the politicians on Ohio鈥檚 current redistricting commission worked in good faith last time, they might have achieved this goal, she says.

鈥淚t all boils down to motivation,鈥� she says.

Undaunted by slings and arrows

Ohio has been here before: In 2015 and 2018, voters overwhelmingly approved constitutional amendments to overhaul its redistricting process and prohibit gerrymandering. But the bipartisan commission that was supposed to reflect public opinion became a battering ram for Republicans seeking to cement a supermajority in the legislature.

Ms. O鈥機onnor says she was always skeptical of the political makeup of the commission, which she calls a 鈥淭rojan horse鈥� in the overhaul. In 2021, the two Democrats on the seven-person commission objected to the maps, triggering a review by the state supreme court. That鈥檚 when she cast the swing vote with Democratic justices to find the maps unconstitutional.

Her ruling infuriated Republicans; some lawmakers called for her impeachment. The rancor only grew as the court reviewed and rejected multiple GOP-authored maps as partisan gerrymanders. By then, Ms. O鈥機onnor had become convinced that Ohio would be better served by a citizens commission, a view she aired in a concurring opinion from the bench.

Having turned 70, she faced mandatory retirement. When her official portrait was unveiled at the courthouse, two Republican justices didn鈥檛 attend, citing scheduling conflicts. She also learned that the state GOP had removed her portrait from its wall. Such snubs don鈥檛 trouble her, she insists, since her party affiliation was never tribal, especially when she ruled from the bench.

鈥淧eople think that I suffered the slings and arrows of all this nastiness and that must have affected me,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛.鈥�

Analysts say Ms. O鈥機onnor is a throwback to the moderate type of Midwest Republican who has been largely expunged from a Trump-infused party.

Still, 鈥渋t鈥檚 unusual for a former elected official to be out front on a reform that the Republican Party is generally opposed to,鈥� says Jonathan Entin, a professor emeritus of law at Case Western Reserve University.

He chalks this up to her frustration with the refusal of politicians to heed the court鈥檚 redistricting ruling. 鈥淚 think she鈥檚 just been really offended at the way this process played out,鈥� he says.

Most retired justices join big law firms and are amply remunerated. Ms. O鈥機onnor chose a different path as an unpaid campaigner for constitutional reform.

鈥淪he鈥檚 deeply committed to the public good, the way that she sees it,鈥� says Steven Steinglass, former dean of Cleveland State law school and a friend of Ms. O鈥機onnor, an alum.

Uphill battle for ballot initiative

Ms. O鈥機onnor won鈥檛 be voting for the Republican presidential nominee this year. 鈥淚鈥檝e never voted for Donald Trump,鈥� she says.

But his name on the ballot will juice turnout and make it harder to pass a constitutional amendment that Republicans in Ohio oppose, says Paul Sracic, a political scientist at Youngstown State University.

It鈥檚 also a complex issue, not made easier by the GOP-authored ballot language, which critics called deceptive, but which Ohio鈥檚 supreme court let mostly stand.

鈥淭he default position of voters is no. If they don鈥檛 understand something, they vote no,鈥� he says.

A Founding Father鈥檚 role

Gerrymandering is as old as representative democracy. It takes its name from a portmanteau of Founding Father Elbridge Gerry and the salamander-shaped district he created as governor of Massachusetts to break up a stronghold of his Federalist Party rivals.

The map-drawing process, usually based on the census, determines 鈥� among other things 鈥� how seats are apportioned in the House of Representatives and or state legislatures. When either body is closely divided, strategic mapmakers can flip control to the other party.

鈥淓ither party will do anything to gain an advantage,鈥� says Benjamin Schneer, an assistant professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.

In 2021, Ohio lost a congressional seat, which required a GOP-led redrawing of federal districts, along with new maps for the state legislature to adjust for population change. The ensuing legal battle over both sets of maps cast a national spotlight on Ohio鈥檚 hardball politics.

鈥楾his is about power鈥�

But in states such as Colorado, Arizona, and Michigan, where independent bodies draw district lines, the process was less fraught and produced fairer maps that led to competitive races in which candidates usually had to appeal to voters outside their partisan base.

Much depends 鈥渙n the design of the commissions,鈥� says Professor Schneer, who consulted on Arizona鈥檚 commission. But 鈥渢heir maps tend to be less gerrymandered.鈥� It can also dramatically change the makeup of the state legislature.

In Michigan, where voters approved the creation of a citizens commission in 2018, Democrats now hold a statehouse trifecta for the first time in decades. Derrick Clay, a Democratic lobbyist in Columbus, Ohio, says that鈥檚 why GOP leaders oppose his state鈥檚 ballot measure.

鈥淭his is about power, and they don鈥檛 want to give up their power,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he only people who lose out in this scenario are the citizens.鈥�

But opponents argue that a citizens commission, whose members would be appointed by retired judges, wouldn鈥檛 be politically accountable.

鈥淚f the voters don鈥檛 like the way they draw the maps, they can vote them out of office. There is accountability,鈥� says Jane Timken, a former state GOP chair.

Proponents note that such accountability depends, however, on seats being competitive, which isn鈥檛 the case in much of Ohio.

The point of an independent redistricting process isn鈥檛 to favor one party or another, but to make elections more competitive 鈥� and thus more representative.

鈥淎ll power comes from the citizenry,鈥� says Ms. O鈥機onnor. 鈥淎nd we delegated it to our representative system 鈥�That means that they have to reflect what the citizens want.鈥�