Democrats find a voice at ballot box

COLUMBUS

I’m starting to wonder whether Ohio’s general election ballots for the next three years are going to be packed with citizen referendums seeking to overturn decisions made by the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. John Kasich.

Because it appears that going to the people is the only way for Democrats to have any say in decisions being made at the Statehouse.

It would be tempting to place all of the blame for this on Republicans. But to be fair, they wrested control of state government during last year’s election and are using the results as a mandate for implementing their policy and changes in law. Democrats would do the same thing in their shoes.

Plus, impotent isn’t a strong enough word to describe the minority party’s current negotiation abilities.

The one-party rule has prompted routine debates in Ohio’s legislative chambers, and lawmakers’ return to Columbus last week was no exception, with bitter words during a heated debate on congressional redistricting.

As expected, Republicans unveiled their plan for Ohio’s 16 new districts. And, also as expected, those districts appear to favor Republicans, with 12 likely to go to the GOP and four to Democrats.

The Republican artists behind the colorful abstract art say the maps are constitutional and in line with laws and court decisions concerning how district boundaries are set.

The Democratic critics say the maps display partisan gerrymandering at its worst and are even more outrageous than what they were expecting.

The two sides clashed in committee hearings and on the floor of the Ohio House. In the end, the Republicans prevailed, with a few members of the black legislative caucus supporting and a few GOP members who disagree with some of the crazy configurations opposing.

Senate approval

The maps next head to the Senate, where they’ll likely be approved in similar fashion, giving potential candidates a chance to get their bearings before next year’s primary election (which will be moved to May, pending Senate approval).

But not so fast: Democrats are already threatening to block the maps from taking effect. State Party Chairman Chris Redfern said last week that opponents are considering all of their options, including the potential for another citizen referendum.

No one’s sure what would happen in the latter case. Usually, such referendums block new laws from taking effect until after an election, but that would be well past the time Ohio is supposed to solidify its congressional districts.

In this case, a referendum could prompt a federal court to step in and impose a redistricting plan drawn outside of Ohio.

That situation will play itself out in coming months, but one thing that is certain: Democrats are finding success outside of the Statehouse in mobilizing like-minded Ohioans to thwart the will of the Republican majority.

They did it with Senate Bill 5, which, if you believe the early polls, is headed for defeat. They’re doing it with House Bill 194, the GOP-backed election reform package that could be headed to the November 2012 ballot.

They’ll likely do it with any other bills that doesn’t meet their approval.

And that may be enough to give impotent Statehouse Democrats a voice in future legislative negotiations.

Marc Kovac is The Vindicator’s Statehouse correspondent. Email him at mkovac@dixcom.com or on Twitter at OhioCapitalBlog.