Husted should carry GOP banner for secretary of state

Jon Husted, a state senator from Kettering and a former speaker of the House, is an unabashed conservative, but that isn’t the main reason Republicans should support him in his bid for the party’s nomination for secretary of state.

What is? Husted’s recognition that partisan politics should be removed from the process of drawing the state’s legislative districts. He has successfully shepherded a plan that would establish a seven-member commission made up of the governor, auditor, secretary of state, speaker of the House, president of the Senate and the minority leaders in the House and Senate.

Husted told The Vindicator editorial board that a five-vote super majority would be needed to adopt a redistricting plan. The senator explained that at least two votes would have to come from commission members not in the majority party.

Currently, the state legislative district lines are drawn by a five-member apportionment board made up of the governor, auditor, secretary of state and a legislator from each party. As a result, partisan politics are very much part of the process. One party will always control two of the three statewide offices.

Husted also said the commission to be created under the measure passed by the GOP-dominated Senate would draw the boundaries for congressional districts. The General Assembly now has that responsibility.

In the House, which is controlled by the Democrats, state Rep. Tom Letson of Warren has developed his own plan that leaves the make up of the apportionment board as it is now, but would directly involve Ohio citizens through a request for proposals on the new districts. The criteria would include competitive fairness, political competitiveness, communities of interest and compactness.

The apportionment board would oversee the process, but the boundaries would be determined by the winner of the public competition. Challenges would be settled by a judicial tribunal.

The final version coming out of the General Assembly would have to be approved by the voters. Given the national population census now being conducted, Husted and Letson are hoping a compromise can be agreed to by both chambers sooner rather than later.

Husted’s challenger for the Republican nomination for secretary of state in the May 4 primary is Sandra O’Brien of Ashtabula, who was unsuccessful in her bid for state treasurer. She is the former auditor of Ashtabula County.

O’Brien did not meet with The Vindicator’s editorial board and, therefore, could not be considered for the newspaper’s endorsement.

Major issue

However, in the candidate questionnaire she submitted, she listed Husted’s redistricting initiative as a major issue in the race.

She contended that the senator’s plan for appointed members takes “our government further away from us” and gives the process to “an unelected bureaucracy further eroding our freedoms.”

She fails to address the issue of fairness, which the current system does not achieve because of the overt politicization.

The 2010 census will show that Ohio’s population failed to grow as much as many other states, which means it could lose two congressional districts. In addition, state legislative boundaries will have to be redrawn to deal with the loss of population in areas such as the northeast.

In the general election, the winner of the GOP primary will face Democrat Maryellen O’Shaughnessy, who is unopposed in the primary. O’Shaughnessy is the Franklin County clerk of courts.

The Vindicator endorses Husted for the GOP nomination on the basis of his taking the initiative to make the process of redrawing district lines fair.