Senate President Matt Huffman is widely expected to challenge his colleague on the Ohio REdistricting
House Speaker Jason Stephens speaks with reporters on Sept. 12, 2023.COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Redistricting Commission is preparing to meet Wednesday to kick off the latest round of drawing new Ohio House and Senate maps in time for next year’s elections.
Like before, Republicans hold a 5-2 majority on the panel, likely giving Democrats little say in the process. But there’s a major difference this time around that could shake things up, or least shape how negotiations will proceed. That political X-factor is the emerging rivalry between House Speaker Jason Stephens and Senate President Matt Huffman, the two Republican legislative leaders who serve on the commission. It’s widely expected within Capitol Square that Huffman, who is barred by term limits from running for reelection at the end of 2024, instead will run for the House next year and then challenge Stephens for his leadership position. That Huffman vs. Stephens dynamic could create incentives for Stephens, who won his leadership job in the first place with help from Democrats, to once again make a deal with House Minority Leader Allison Russo and Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, the two Democrats on the redistricting commission. That, in turn, could shape not only which Republican controls the House in 2025 and beyond, but how involved Democrats, who increasingly find themselves in the minority, may be in lawmaking after that. Russo said Tuesday there “are a lot of interesting dynamics going on in the background” of redistricting as Democrats work to identify potential negotiating partners on the redistricting commission.Russo elaborated: “It’s not a secret that you’ve got two people on the commission who will be in the House next General Assembly and maybe competing for the same leadership role.” The potential friction between Stephens and Huffman is a major difference from last year, when Huffman worked so closely with then-Speaker Bob Cupp. Stephens and the Democrats could in turn, hypothetically, convince one additional Republican to join them to pass a map if talks break down. Stephens didn’t reveal much about his redistricting plans when he addressed the topic with reporters in Columbus on Tuesday, although he said that commission members have been developing various concepts for the maps. “I think the way the rules are written in the constitution, if everyone acts in good faith, we’re going to have a good process,” Stephens said. “I’m looking forward to that. I think we’re going to get a good map for Ohio, and I’d like to get a map for eight years so we don’t have to talk about redistricting for awhile.” Russo and Stephens were available for questions on Tuesday after both attended a House committee meeting, even though the legislature has yet to return from its summer break. A message has been left with a spokesperson for Huffman, a Lima Republican. There are several factors weighing on Stephens that could pull him away from other Republican commissioners while designing House districts, which then are used as the building blocks for state Senate districts. Stephens holds his position thanks to support he got last January from all 32 Democratic House members, and 22 of 67 House Republicans. The remaining Republicans supported a different candidate, Rep. Derek Merrin, who also is term limited and can’t run for reelection to the House. If Stephens wants to retain the speaker’s gavel, he first might look to protect the Republican House members who voted to make him speaker. Three of the 22 pro-Stephens Republicans – Reps. Jay Edwards, Tom Patton and Bill Seitz – are term-limited, giving Stephens a thinner margin to work with. Thanks to the lasting controversy among GOP activists surrounding the speaker’s vote, several of the remaining 22 pro-Stevens Republicans already have drawn challengers, and small changes in the lines could help or hurt them in the Republican primary election in March. And then there are the Democratic House members. Each of the 32 current Democrats who loses their seat in 2024 could mean one fewer vote for Stephens. And each Democrat that may pick up a seat could translate to one vote more. Thanks to new Ohio Supreme Court makeup that’s expected to be more favorable to the GOP than last year, the Republicans will have the ability to pad their numbers with small changes to the existing map, which favors Republicans to win 57 of 99 House districts, although another 20 districts favor Democrats by fewer than 5 percentage points. And finally, there are vulnerable Republican incumbents whose reelection or defeat could alter the speaker equation. Republican House members currently hold nine districts that President Joe Biden won in the 2020 election, seven of whom can run for reelection. These include one member who supported Stephens – Rep. Al Cutrona, of Canfield – and six who didn’t: Reps. Bill Roemer, of Richfield; Jim Thomas, of suburban Canton; Nick Santucci, of Trumbull County; Josh Williams, of Toledo; Phil Plummer, of Dayton; and Andrea White, of suburban Dayton. Republicans could shore up these six anti-Stephens, Biden-district Republicans by making their districts more Republican-leaning. But would Stephens want to go along with that? Inter-GOP tensions are nothing new, and it’s usually a safe bet that when the cards are down, Ohio Republicans will close ranks and vote along party lines, particularly on a topic as important as state legislative redistricting. But the Huffman-Stephens rivalry, and its ramifications for the future control of the Ohio House, is something to watch as the process plays out.If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. By browsing this site, we may share your information with our social media partners in accordance with our
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