Wow, what a rally! Fantastic crowd, amazing speakers, great signs and songs, folks from all over Ohio, and Fair Districts and Equal Districts pulling together. We got a lot of press coverage and sent an unequivocal message to the Ohio Redistricting Commission: Ohioans want fair maps and fair elections! Get to work! Do your job! Obey the law!

We also delivered to them our “Ohio wants Fair Maps” sign on statement and the list of about 3,000 folks who had signed! We are continuing to add signatures, so if you haven’t signed on yet, click here to add your name and say why you support Fair Maps! (If you had trouble signing before without a Google account, we think we fixed the issue so give it another try, or email us.)

If you weren’t able to attend, please check out these photo albums, one from Paul Becker, the other from Ralph Orr. Tiffany Rumbalski and Catherine Turcer took some great photos too! You can also watch a livestream recording HERE. AND, please enjoy the following clips of rally speakers:

Libby Hostetler of Allen County: “As a lifetime voter in Allen County–who unfortunately at this point, voted for home boys Huffman and Cupp– I’ve seen enough. I’ve seen enough bullying and forcing commission colleagues to march to their drummer even if it’s breaking the law. I’ve seen enough of delaying tactics,” said Libby Hostetler of Allen County. 

Rev. Dr.  Jack Sullivan, Jr of the Ohio Council of Churches: “We love Ohio. Ohio is our home. We will not be muted. We are not going away,” said Rev. Dr. Jack Sullivan, Jr.  “Commission members, we see you… Produce maps that are consistent with the Constitution and the will of the people.”

Deacon Nick Bates of the Hunger Network in Ohio: “We want every voice to matter and every vote to count. The problem is when you gerrymander districts, you can create districts that are safe for one party or one specific politician to win, said Deacon Nick Bates. “And then those politicians are more loyal to the mapmakers and those people who are funding those mapmakers than are to the people in their communities.”

Rev. Derrick Holmes of the Amos Project: “Pass fair maps in order to serve and represent people in the way they deserve to be served and represented. Pass fair maps because the current maps are unconstitutional and immoral. Pass fair maps because another day we wait is another day too long. Pass fair maps now,” said Rev. Derrick Holmes. 

Greg Moore of the Promise of Democracy Foundation, the Ohio Voter Fund, and co-chair of the Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission talk about struggle to get rules prohibiting gerrymandering in the Ohio Constitution and to establish fair districts: “Some of us have been working on this for years and some of us have been working on it for decades so we’re not going to quit,” said Greg Moore of the Ohio Voter Fund and the Promise of Democracy Foundation.. “I would say this: I think we are going to win the fight. It’s going to take a little more time, but eventually, we are going to win this fight. And it’s going to be the people of Ohio who should be celebrated and thanked for preserving and not giving up.” 

After our rally, many attended the redistricting public forum held by Commission Co-Chair Sykes and Leader Russo. Rally participants offered powerful and moving testimony about the need for fair maps. You can view about an hour of the event HERE. 

Since the Ohio Supreme Court struck down the fourth set of General Assembly maps on April 14 the Democrats on the Redistricting Commission have been asking to meet. After two weeks of silence and delay, finally a meeting was held on Wednesday, May 4—just two days before the Court’s deadline for new maps. Nothing significant occurred at that meeting to move us closer to a constitutionally compliant set of Ohio House and Senate maps. Later in the afternoon a meeting was set for Thursday, as follows:

Ohio Redistricting Commission Hearing, 4:45pm, Thursday, May 5

Please join us—either in person or online:

• In person: Room 313 at the Ohio Statehouse.
• Online: At our Zoom watch party. Register Here. 

Thank you for staying in the fight for fair maps and fair elections in Ohio!