COLUMBUS – Members of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus defended state Issue 1 on Tuesday as a means to give all people in Ohio a greater voice in their government and pushed back on the argument it would hurt black representation in the statehouse.
“We are here to set the record straight and debunk some of the misinformation and the myths about Issue 1 disenfranchising Black voters,” said Rep. Terrence Upchurch, the caucus president and a Cleveland Democrat.
“That is absolutely a false claim and it’s inaccurate,” Upchurch said. “It’s funny how all of a sudden there’s an overwhelming concern for Black disenfranchisement when we are working with a supermajority who has increased voter suppression laws, made it more difficult to vote and has also made stricter voting ID restrictions. That is how you disenfranchise black voters.”
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Upchurch, Columbus Democratic Rep. Dontavious Jarrells and Democratic Sens. Catherine Ingram of Cincinnati and Hearcel Craig of Columbus, joined by Diedra Reese of the Issue 1-backing Ohio Organizing Collaborative, blasted efforts by opponents to paint the constitutional amendment as bad for people of color.
Under more than two decades of Republican rule, the number of legislators in Columbus who are Black has shrunk and increasingly, they said, the voice of people who most need help from their government has gone unheard.
Issue 1 would replace Ohio’s system of redistricting, creating a citizen-led commission to draw statehouse and congressional maps for Ohio and barring participation from politicians.
“The beauty of Issue 1 is it gives citizens control of the process,” Reese said.
Ingram argued that the strengths of the issue are that it will bring fairness and transparency to the process
“The reality of this, and we’ve known for a long time, unfortunately – and I’ll say this, the Democrats took their turn too when it came time to draw – but the Republicans have had a hold on this which is so unfair,” Ingram said. “How is it that seven times the Supreme Court says ‘Go back, it’s unconstitutional.’ “
Issue 1 arose out of frustration with gerrymandering in Ohio, which critics say squelches the voices of the voters because districts are drawn to protect the advantage Republicans have in Ohio.
Republicans enjoy supermajorities in the Ohio House and Ohio Senate and control two thirds of Ohio’s seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. This despite the winning presidential candidate carrying no more than about 53% of the state vote in the last six presidential elections.
The issue has been endorsed by the Ohio Conference NAACP, the Ohio Unity Coalition, the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus and other civil rights groups.
In press events last week in Greater Cleveland and Columbus, opponents of Issue 1 argued that the issue would harm minority representation in the legislature by diluting and weakening the voice of poorer minority voters. That was the experience in Michigan, which adopted its own redistricting commission in 2018, they said.
“That’s not going to build businesses, that’s not going to build wealth, that won’t sustain communities. That won’t build opportunity,” former state Rep. John Barnes, a Cleveland Democrat, said of Issue 1 last week.
On Tuesday, Sen. Michelle Reynolds, a Black Republican legislator whose district includes suburban Columbus, backed up Barnes’ argument.
“Today’s all-Democrat response was pure panic from the Issue 1 campaign,” Reynolds said in a statement. “This will gerrymander fixed wins for the radical left at the expense of Ohio’s minority neighborhoods. Detroit was divided more than 20 times, leaving it without a Black member of Congress for the first time in 70 years.”
But the current system already has failed Ohio’s minority population, the Democrats said Tuesday. Issues such as poverty, education, infant mortality and gun violence have gone unaddressed by a majority that doesn’t listen to the voices of Democratic voters, they said.
“We cannot allow this injustice to continue any longer,” Craig said. “It is imperative that we reform the current mapmaking process to ensure fairness and transparency for the benefit of all Ohioans. We need legislators to focus on what matters most, and that’s the people.”