Question regarding gerrymandering

[FlightRN]

My first time voting was for Obama, so I am not nearly as seasoned as most here on DU.

With that in mind, is Ohio so gerrymandered that it’s effecting the outcome of the races statewide. Or are Ohioans simply ignorant, racist, and mostly deplorable?

I’m so upset that Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin course corrected and Ohio is looking more and more like West Virginia.

I know we (as Dems) have a lot to celebrate after last night, but I am feeling really rotten about the results in our State from last night. Save for Sherrod and Beth Liston Perspective please?

[Raven123]

1. Ohio passed a redistricting law in 2018

Hopefully will help but I don't think before 2020. Could be wrong.

[Ninga]

2. Read the voting tea leaves, and weep. Ohioans

showed their true color and it is red.
I live near Lake Erie in strong blue Cuyahoga Cty, but it’s not enough to overcome the racist rural vote.
We get districts redrawn but not until 2022 after the 2020 census.,..
Ohio is a huge disappointment

[FlightRN]

3. Read the tea leaves and weep?

Is that supposed to make me feel even worse? Like are you fucking enjoying the fact that I’m stuck in a racist state with a bunch of rednecks?

Thanks for the support.

[Ninga]

4. As I said, I live in Ohio. Maybe you didn't recognize

the area...,.if it makes you feel better to yell at me, it’s ok with me.

[FlightRN]

5. I completely don't understand why

you would answer so flippantly. I’m not “yelling,” I asked a legimate question and your answer felt like you were mocking me.

Everyone on this board screams about how the young people are needed to help the Dems. Well here I am. I am upset and looking for answers about our state.

[Ninga]

8. I can't help you out except to say I'm not an enemy. You swore at me because I pointed out

the election results were tea leaves telling Ohio's future. I took it personally and that you swearing at me was akin to yelling. That's why. Look I hit the pavement starting in September to GOTV, I am devastated to live in a red state. It's not my fault.

[FlightRN]

9. I wasn't swearing at you

I swore in my post because I was so taken aback by your response. I apologize.

Clearly I’m devastated as well. Thank you for helping in the GOTV efforts.

[Ninga]

10. Thanks, I appreciate your kind response. I have lived through too many devistating Ohio Election

night results, and am deeply affected.

[FlightRN]

11. Yes

I can’t even imagine going through this election after election for years. It’s sickening and unthinkable to me. I’m sorry that’s your reality. I’m thinking the future welfare of my mental health would benefit greatly from moving far away from Ohio.

I suppose I was looking for an answer that there are more of us than them, that Ohio could right itself. It’s very hard to hear this is just the way it is in our state.

[blueinredohio]

6. I live in a very red area of Ohio

Close to seventy five percent republicans. Most are one issue voters or the younger ones vote republican because their parents do

[FlightRN]

7. Thanks blueinredohio

Is that one issue abortion, or I suppose maybe now it’s getting that ridiculous wall built?

When I first came on here an older regular poster showed me a map and said Ohio was hopelessly gerrymandered. And now DeWine, well he sure as hell won’t be helping to “fix” that. I’m beyond frustrated. What happens to our Medicaid expansion under DeWine, can he nix that?

[hotrod0808]

12. NW Ohio here

It is hopelessly gerrymandered. Look at OH-9. They did it to make voters choose between Kaptur and Kucinich. Taft, Blackwell, and Husted made it harder for people to vote, and also brought Diebold in for the machines. I had some hope when Obama and Holder formed their commission on redistricting, but, as usual, they ignored Ohio almost completely. I have some hard fucking feelings about the way things went this year, and some very hard feelings toward the state party and the big party, too. My vote helped Brown, and then absolutely nothing else. This state is fucked.

[FlightRN]

14. Me too

I lost count of the emails and texts from those in the big party to donate to any and everyone outside of Ohio. I donated to all Ohio Dems at least 5-10x each. I also donated to Beto and Abrams.

But yeah, it was if Ohio had no races going on. The State party only starting sending me emails ten days before Election Day.

I’m stuck with Troy fucking Balderson and we all lose with a Repug SOS and DeWine. Maybe they did just write us off completely. And that really feels like shit.

[hotrod0808]

20. I can't think

any other reason than a write-off that they couldn't come out to support some of these candidates if they couldn't allot money to defeat them. I know I did all I could this year, and I know you did. I feel the party surely didn't.

[appalachiablue]

16. For weeks I've wondered what all Holder & Obama did to help

voting and meant to ask in a post. Yours is the only mention I've seen, I need to research what took place.

It's awful about Ohio's RED as I commented last night too. Only WV is worse maybe, where I was raised on the Ohio River when it was solid a Blue, Labor state until the 90s..

[hotrod0808]

19. They succeeded

in their quest in Pennsylvania. The state had to redraw everything. As far as everything else, I don't know. I just know that I hadn't heard dick about anything in Ohio.

[blueinredohio]

18. I'm also in northwest Ohio.

Just read our local paper and republicans won by over two thirds. In my area Sherrod Brown even lost. Thank goodness some in Ohio have sense. Now we're stuck with no balls Latta and unless something is done about gerrymandering well have him or another republican forever. Also now with DeSwine I'm sure Medicaid expansion is gone.

[hotrod0808]

21. I feel

you're right about everything that you wrote. I also feel like if they couldn't allot any cash to support Galbraith, then at least a big name Democrat could have come out to appear with him somewhere. They really don't give a fuck about what goes on here, and they have lost Ohio for good when the 2020 map is redrawn.

[No Vested Interest]

22. Did DeWine promise to do away with Medicaid expansion? That would be very foolish.

Didn't Kasich use Medicaid for all the state's prisoners? Saving much money in the process.

[LakeArenal]

13. Take it from Wisconsin....

Gerrymandering has destroyed local politics here.

I was just half listening but I think MSNBC just stated something like :
Nationwide Dems got 54% of the votes and Republicans got 36% of the collective votes. Gerrymandering causes that.

Also, many of us have been up all night. Personally every local Dem lost. Tempers are short. It’s easy to take comments the wrong way.

[FlightRN]

15. I'm from Wisconsin originally

Those numbers are reassuring that we are a majority and infuriating because the gerrymandering makes it almost futile in some states.

Thank you for the info. And yes, I’m exhausted, have a migraine, and am emotionally spent. I’m trying to be more careful in my responses.

Congrats on getting rid of Walker up there.

[irisblue]

17. Long time Ohio resident

I also live in Columbus. This state is very gerrymandered. Both the state house & state senators districts were very carefully drawn by so the state level officials are safe.
The congressional districts are gerrymandered as well. An examples,Ohio 12, the one Danny OConnor ran in, extends into C-bus City proper, then north & east to rural Ohio. You remember John Bohener, prev Speaker of House b/4 rat face Ryan? He & his Rep. friends which have controlled the both chambers of the state house for 20+ yrs, drew very very safe districts for Rep candidates. The Dem areas, ie "Urban" were set so the northern Ohio Dems had to fight each other. The Dem seat is the city of Columbus, students & a lot of POC.


This state is no longer the a blue state,it's maroon.



https://goo.gl/images/tgtQJ4
Thar will show you how gerrymandered this state is.

[Philostopher]

23. Montgomery County (Dayton)

Heavily gerrymandered here, too. We have one D rep in a district designed to corral Democratic voters, so one Dem always gets a seat, but everything else is diluted with rural evangelicals to the point a Democrat can't win any of the others. That being said, only one county judgeship or commission seat flipped red - our county commission is all female and all Dem, and all the local judges who were endorsed by MCDP won. Dayton generally has a Democratic mayor (last one was an independent/libertarian, who was a pot-smoking, earring-wearing stay at home dad). The last Republican mayor is my congressman, and the fact he was mayor lulls a lot of area Dems into thinking he's okay. He's not, he's as big a pig as the rest, but that's why nobody seems to be able to make any headway against him.

I am curious to see what happens after the next districting, with the new rules in place. I don't know if it requires drawing new districts, or if it just locks the current ones in place indefinitely. Hoping it will redraw and lock, but I don't know that. If it redraws, things may look different down the road. Kudos to whoever thought to put that on the ballot in the primaries, so the Republicans couldn't campaign on it.