Ohio Dems hit Boehner on remap

Ohio Democrats are pouncing on reports that House Speaker John Boehner and his top political hands, led by Tom Whatman, worked behind the scenes to push through a GOP-friendly congressional remap in Ohio.

“What is clear is that Boehner and his team had a hand in the map drawing,” Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern said in a conference call with reporters on Tuesday morning.

A public records request first reported by the Associated Press on Monday painted a detailed portrait of a back-and-forth between Boehner aides and top GOP legislative leaders, who according to the report were committed to passing a map that Boehner supported. Among the moves Whatman pushed for was to place Timken, a Canton-based steel company, to be included in the northeastern Ohio-based district of freshman GOP Rep. Jim Renacci, whose campaign the company had been financially supportive of.

Shoving a campaign contributor into Renacci’s district, Redfern said, was damning evidence that Boehner’s office was playing dirty with redistricting.

“Sometimes it’s difficult in politics to prove a quid pro quo,” Redfern said on the call. “This is the definition of a quid pro quo.”

Boehner spokesman Cory Fritz shot back in an email: "Instead of engineering pure political stunts, Ohio Democrats should focus on working with Republicans to help create private-sector jobs and get our economy moving."

Alex Isenstadt is a reporter for Politico.