3 Things You Should Know About What the Election Results Mean for Ohio

There is a lot of talk about the election results and their impact in terms of the federal government and what it means for the country. While this is obviously important, we all know there was more than just the President on the ballot this year. Here are the top three things you should know about what the election results mean for Ohio.

1. J.D. Vance’s Senate seat will be filled through an appointment by Governor Mike DeWine.

J.D. Vance will be the next Vice President of the United States, leaving a vacant U.S. Senate seat in Ohio. As governor, Mike DeWine will appoint someone to this seat.

Whoever gets appointed will serve until 2026, when they can choose to run in a special election to keep the seat through 2028 which is Vance’s original term. This means Ohio will elect a Senator in a special election in 2026, and then the same seat will be up for election again in 2028 for the normal end of term election.

Governor DeWine has been tight lipped about potential appointments, but of course rumors are out there. Among the names floating around are former Ohio Republican Party chair Jane Timken, Secretary of State Frank LaRose, and state Senator Matt Dolan.

2. The defeat of Issue 1 means Ohioans will continue to vote with unconstitutional maps.

Issue 1 would have removed politicians from the map drawing process & replaced them with a 15-member Citizens Redistricting Commission made up of 5 Republicans, 5 Independents, & 5 Democrats.

Congressional & state legislative maps, which were found to be unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court for unfairly favoring Ohio’s GOP, were used in the 2022 & 2024 elections.

The Ohio congressional map will be redrawn for the 2026 election. The congressional map draws districts for the 15 seats apportioned to Ohio in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Ohio’s constitution states that maps must be redrawn every 4 years versus 10 years with the census if 1/2 of the minority party members did not approve the maps. The congressional map currently being used was approved with a 5-2 vote along party lines, meaning no one from the minority party approved it.

Although the congressional map will be redrawn, the same redistricting process is in place that was used to draw maps after the 2020 census. Because of this, it is unlikely Ohio will see fair maps this time around either.

Ohio’s congressional map is drawn by the Ohio Redistricting Commission which is made up of elected officials. With the stranglehold Republicans have on Ohio government, there will once again be 5 republicans and only 2 democrats on the commission. The commission is made up of one individual appointed by the Senate President, one individual appointed by the Speaker of the House, one individual appointed by the Senate Minority Leader, one individual appointed by the House Minority Leader, the Governor, the Auditor, and the Secretary of State.

The state legislative maps, which are different than the congressional map, will not be redrawn until 2032. State legislative maps draw districts for the Ohio State Senate which has 33 seats or districts as well as for the Ohio House of Representatives which has 99 seats or districts.

3. Reproductive rights, among other things, are at risk with the GOP holding a 6-1 super-majority on the Ohio Supreme Court.

The state’s highest court has been under Republican control since 1986. Republicans currently have a 4-3 majority that will increase to 6-1 starting in 2025 because all three Supreme Court seats this election went to the Republican justices.

The Ohio Supreme Court will rule on a variety of issues that affect the daily lives of Ohioans including but not limited to education, the environment, gerrymandering, elections, and reproductive rights. All three of the justices elected in this election were endorsed by Ohio Right to Life, an anti-abortion, pro-life organization.

Abortion Forward Executive Director Kellie Copeland said in a statement. “The Ohio Reproductive Freedom Amendment established a clear framework protecting everyone’s right to access abortion, but it is up to our court system to make sure that this amendment doesn’t just become a meaningless piece of paper. We need justices that will enforce and not ignore it.”

There is litigation from the state in Ohio state courts seeking to uphold the old pre-Dobbs laws, like those requiring state-mandated delay, information requirements, and fetal tissue bills. Despite being a burden on the right to an abortion, Ohio’s Republican attorney general David Yost’s office is arguing that these laws do not violate the constitutional amendment. These cases will likely find their way up to the Ohio Supreme Court who will get to interpret the Reproductive Freedom amendment.

The seven justices on the Ohio Supreme Court will have the final say on how abortion access may be restricted despite 57% of Ohioans voting in favor of the amendment last fall.

Sources

• https://www.citizensnotpoliticians.org/petition/

• https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/timeline-ohios-gerrymandered-maps-how-ohio-politicians-defied-court

• https://ballotpedia.org/Redistricting_in_Ohio

• https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/who-will-replace-jd-vance-in-the-us-senate-ohio-gov-mike-dewine-mulling-pick/ar-AA1tIgjr?ocid=BingNewsSerp

• https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/vice-president-elect-jd-vances-senate-seat-filled/story?id=115615124

• https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2024/11/05/republicans-win-all-three-ohio-supreme-court-races-increasing-hold-over-court-to-6-1-ap-projects/

• https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2024/09/19/result-of-ohio-supreme-court-races-will-affect-states-abortion-laws/