As a state coalition marches toward a November ballot issue aimed at changing the hyper-partisan process for drawing Ohio congressional districts, formerly reluctant Republican lawmakers are sounding more open to doing it themselves.

The Fair Districts = Fair Elections coalition is laying the groundwork for a signature-gathering effort and ballot campaign with the goal of a more-transparent congressional redistricting process that ensures one political party can’t rig the system.

Republicans drew the current congressional map in 2011, and the GOP has controlled 12 of 16 seats ever since.

Sen. Frank LaRose, R-Copley, who has pushed for years for redistricting reform, is trying to find a compromise that will get support from his colleagues. However, as currently written, his plan does not have support from Fair Districts.

“I’m very pleased Sen. LaRose is looking for a way to find common ground. I’m just not convinced this is the solution,” said Catherine Turcer of Common Cause Ohio.

Lawmakers passed and voters overwhelmingly approved reforms to Ohio’s legislative redistricting process in 2015. But GOP leaders, at the behest of Ohio congressmen, including then-Speaker John Boehner, left the congressional mapping process untouched and in the hands of the legislature.

Now, “We’re going to take a long, hard look at this issue,” said Senate President Larry Obhof, R-Medina.

Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, R-Clarksville, who in the past has said he’d rather not consider congressional changes until after the 2021 map drawing, has more recently expressed interest in exploring the option. He hopes his office has something ready by June.

Gov. John Kasich and other Republican statewide officeholders are supporting reform. Secretary of State Jon Husted has urged Ohio’s congressional delegation to back a plan now before voters approve one they really don’t like.

Both Obhof and Rosenberger said keeping the process under legislative control is important. LaRose’s proposal includes much of what was approved by voters in 2015, but it would let the legislature draw the districts, instead of the bipartisan commission approved to draw legislative seats.

David Daley, former editor-in-chief of Salon who has written a book on gerrymandering across the country, was in Columbus this week for a League of Women’s Voters of Ohio conference. Handing the redistricting process to a commission isn’t perfect, he said, but “it is really hard to get to fairness when politicians are drawing the lines.”

“Ohio is certainly one of the most gerrymandered states in the country, both in its legislature and congressional districts,” Daley said. “There’s a lot of opportunity for shenanigans coming up in 2020."

Because of slow population growth, Ohio is expected to lose another congressional seat after the 2020 census, dropping to 15.

Under LaRose’s proposal, passing a congressional map would require a two-thirds vote of each legislative chamber. That normally would require bipartisan support, but not if the current record-sized GOP majorities hold.

A map also could pass if approved by a majority of members from each political party.

“The way the district lines are drawn now causes dissatisfaction among voters, causes confusion and causes dysfunction at the state and federal level,” LaRose said.

Richard Gunther, an Ohio State political science professor who is working with the Fair Districts coalition, said he appreciates LaRose’s effort, but without changes, it's not acceptable.

Gunther said he can’t support allowing a map to pass by a super-majority that may not need a bipartisan vote.

While LaRose’s plan protects cities, villages and townships from unnecessary splits, Gunther said, it doesn’t limit county splits.

“You have almost infinite number of ways of putting together a gerrymandered map,” he said.

Gunther also would like to see LaRose’s bill put more teeth into what are currently stated only as goals, not hard criteria, such as requiring that no map be drawn primarily to favor a political party.

Gunther would like to see lawmakers deal with the reform, but the coalition can’t afford to wait. The legislature has until early August to place an issue on the ballot, but the coalition’s deadline is July 5.

“The legislature could stall and then sometime in late July say 'Never mind,'” he said. “We have to be ready to go if the legislature does not act.”

jsiegel@dispatch.com

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