Gov. John Kasich says he wants to change the way Ohio draws congressional districts, but other supporters of the idea say it will take a change of heart by Ohio's federal lawmakers to make it happen.

Gov. John Kasich says he wants to change the way Ohio draws congressional districts, but other supporters of the idea say it will take a change of heart by Ohio�s federal lawmakers to make it happen.

Ohio�s congressional districts are currently drawn by the legislature, which can gerrymander districts to favor the party that controls the chambers. The process has led to a number of districts that make little geographic sense, allow for few competitive races and have given Republicans 12 of 16 seats.

�I support redistricting reform dramatically,� Kasich said last week. �This will be something I�m going to do whether I�m elected president or whether I�m here. We carve these safe districts, and then when you�re in a safe district you have to watch your extremes, and you keep moving to the extremes.�

Kasich�s position matches that of Secretary of State Jon Husted, a fellow Republican who for years has advocated changing the process for drawing legislative and congressional maps.

Opponents of the current map-drawing process hoped that following the overwhelming 43-point passage in November of Issue 1, which seeks to bring a more transparent and bipartisan process to drawing legislative districts, that GOP legislative leaders would act to do the same for congressional redistricting.

So far, that hasn�t happened. Leaders including House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, R-Clarksville, have said they�d rather take a wait-and-see approach, leaving the current congressional system in place for 2021, the next time districts will be drawn to conform with new census counts.

That means the congressional mapping process likely could not be changed until 2031.

Sen. Bill Coley, R-West Chester, chairman of the Senate Government Oversight Committee and a member of the Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission, is among those who think lawmakers should wait until the new legislative process is complete.

�As soon as we get through the first run of that, we�ll have a lot more information to look at whether we should apply that to our congressional districts,� he said. �To do anything before that would be silly because you�ve approved a system you haven�t even tried yet. Let�s run it through one time and see how it works.�

Kasich appears to be in no mood to wait.

�We need to eliminate gerrymandering. We�ve got to figure out a way to do it,� he said. �We�ve got to have more competitive districts. That, to me, is what�s good for the state of Ohio and good for the country.�

Unlike legislative redistricting, which required a constitutional change through a ballot issue, reforming the congressional process would require only a change in law.

Husted agrees with Kasich�s sentiment, saying of the current map: �If you�re talking about maximizing partisan success, it�s brilliant. If you�re talking about good government, it�s not.�& amp; amp; amp; amp; amp; lt; /p>

But he also knows that political realities are standing in the way.

�I don�t believe the legislature is going to pass something that the congressional delegation doesn�t support,� Husted said.

When lawmakers were discussing redistricting last year, former U.S. House Speaker John Boehner of West Chester made it clear he did not want congressional changes to be part of it. So only a legislative redistricting proposal was passed and put on the ballot.

Boehner is gone, but that doesn�t mean Ohio�s other congressional members are eager to change a system that draws them safe seats through a process that many of them can influence via money and political pressure.

In addition, some state lawmakers fancy themselves as future federal lawmakers. Also, Republican congressional candidates gave nearly $600,000 to GOP legislative committees in 2010 and 2011 as the new map was being drawn.

�In most of these people�s districts, their congressional member is very influential with opinion leaders in that community, and they tend to want to work with that congressional member rather than be at odds,� Husted said.

Husted disagrees that officials should wait to see how the new legislative process works before moving to change congressional mapping. �The two don�t have anything to do with one another.�

Congressional support may come, Husted said, if they are faced with a ballot issue to create a new process that is less appealing than what is currently being offered � essentially the same as the legislative plan, with a seven-member panel that tries to draw lines with bipartisan agreement. It may come down to whether they back something they can live with, or risk facing a process they like much less, he said.

Past citizen-led redistricting efforts have been defeated, but Husted said, �I believe there is a declining will among donors and political leaders to continue those kinds of fights.�

Even if lawmakers don�t want to give up their authority to draw the lines, they could require a three-fifths majority to pass a map and not allow fracturing of counties, Husted said.

�The solutions are many,� he said. �The political will is the missing ingredient.�

jsiegel@dispatch.com

@phrontpage