TagRedistricting

Ohio Supreme Court overturns state’s congressional district boundaries; map to still be used for 2022 elections

By Dave Beaudoin
In 2022 elections
July 20, 2022 at 9:12 PM

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled 4-3 on July 19, 2022, that the congressional district boundaries that the Ohio Redistricting Commission adopted on March 2 were unconstitutional. Since the state’s 2022 primary elections were held on May 3 using the overturned districts, this year’s congressional elections will take place using the existing boundaries.

The state supreme court directed the Ohio General Assembly to pass a compliant plan within 30 days. If the general assembly fails to do so, the court ordered the redistricting commission to then adopt a plan within 30 days. The state would use that map for its 2024 congressional elections.

Since the boundaries that the redistricting commission adopted in March 2022 did not receive support from any commission members of the minority party, it would have been in effect for only four years. Under the constitutional amendment establishing the redistricting commission that voters approved in 2018, the commission was required to enact a new map after the 2024 elections.

Justices Maureen O’Connor, Michael Donnelly, and Melody Stewart signed the state supreme court’s majority opinion with Justice Jennifer Brunner filing a concurring opinion. Justices Sharon Kennedy, Pat DeWine, and Pat Fischer wrote or joined dissenting opinions.

The court’s opinion said, “Petitioners have satisfied their burden by showing beyond a reasonable doubt that the March 2 plan unduly favors the Republican Party in violation of Article XIX, Section 1(C)(3)(a) of the Ohio Constitution. Comparative analyses and other metrics show that the March 2 plan allocates voters in ways that unnecessarily favor the Republican Party by packing Democratic voters into a few dense Democratic-leaning districts, thereby increasing the Republican vote share of the remaining districts. As a result, districts that would otherwise be strongly Democratic-leaning are now competitive or Republican-leaning districts.”

The dissenting opinion signed by Justices Kennedy and DeWine said, “We disagree, however, with the majority’s conclusion that the March 2 plan is invalid because it violates Article XIX, Section 1(C)(3)(a) of the Ohio constitution for ‘unduly favor[ing] or disfavor[ing] a political party or its incumbents.’…Therefore, we would hold that the March 2 plan is constitutional and order its use for the 2024 primary and general elections. Because the majority does otherwise, we dissent.”

Governor Mike DeWine (R) first signed a new congressional map into law on November 20, 2021, after the state Senate voted to approve it 24-7 and the state House approved it 55-36. On January 14, the Ohio Supreme Court struck down the state’s enacted congressional map and ordered the legislature to redraw it. The Ohio Redistricting Commission approved redrawn congressional boundaries in a 5-2 vote along party lines.

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Ohio Supreme Court

Mike DeWine

Redistricting in Ohio



Primary watch: number of contested state legislative primaries is up 26% compared to 2020

By Douglas Kronaizl
In 2022 elections
July 18, 2022 at 10:52 AM

There are 26% more contested state legislative primaries this year than in 2020, including 56% more Republican primaries and 8% more top-two/four primaries. Democratic primaries are down 8%.

These figures include elections in 34 states that account for 4,289 of 6,166 state legislative seats up for election this year (70%).

A primary is contested when there are more candidates running than available nominations, meaning at least one candidate must lose.

Since our last update on July 5, we have added post-filing deadline data from Tennessee and Washington. Overall, nine states in this analysis have Democratic trifectas, 19 have Republican trifectas, and six have divided governments.

Of the 34 states in this analysis, 31 are holding partisan primaries. Three states—California, Nebraska, and Washington—use top-two primaries.

The number of Democratic primaries has increased in 11 states, decreased in 16, and remains the same in three. The number of Republican primaries has increased in 28 states and decreased in three. The table below shows partisan statistics for the three states with the largest increases and decreases so far.

In addition to a state’s political makeup and party activity, redistricting is another reason for an increase in primary competitiveness.

After redistricting, some states—like Arkansas—hold elections for every district, while in other years, fewer districts are up each cycle. This creates more opportunities for primaries to occur. Or, like in West Virginia, redistricting creates new districts and, by extension, more primary opportunities. Currently, the total number of possible primaries affected by these changes is up 1.3% compared to 2020.

For states like New Mexico and South Carolina, where only one chamber is up for election every two years, only those chambers holding elections in 2022 that also held elections in 2020 are included.

Ballotpedia will continue to update these figures as information becomes available. In addition to this analysis, Ballotpedia collects competitiveness statistics at all levels of government, available here. This data is calculated following candidate filing deadlines and readjusted at the time of the primary to account for any changes to candidate lists.



Missouri redistricting commission enacted new state House boundaries on January 19

By Dave Beaudoin
In 2022 elections
June 30, 2022 at 7:19 PM

The House Independent Bipartisan Citizens Commission unanimously approved new state House district boundaries on January 19. Fourteen of the commission’s 20 members were required to approve the plan. 

Two distinct politician commissions are responsible for state legislative redistricting in Missouri—one for the state Senate and another for the state House of Representatives. To form the House commission, the congressional district committee of each major political party nominates two members per congressional district, for a total of 32 nominees. From this pool, the governor appoints one member per party per district, for a total of 16 commissioners.

If the commission had been unable to agree on a redistricting plan by January 23, authority over the process would have transferred to the Missouri Judicial Commission for Redistricting. 
In a press release issued after the map was finalized, commission chair Jerry Hunter said, “I want to personally thank all of the commissioners for the hard work that was put in by the commissioners and, obviously, as all of you know, the supporting individuals that have been instrumental to helping get this map done on both sides – on both the Democratic and Republican sides.” Rudi Keller of the Missouri Independent wrote, “Of the 163 districts…, there are 38 where Democrats should have the advantage, 97 where Republicans are dominant and 28 districts with past election results showing less than a 10% advantage for either party.”

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Missouri Judicial Redistricting Commission enacted new state Senate boundaries in March

By Dave Beaudoin
In 2022 elections
June 30, 2022 at 7:14 PM

Missouri completed its legislative redistricting on March 15 when the state’s Judicial Redistricting Commission filed new state Senate district boundaries with the secretary of state.

Two distinct politician commissions are responsible for state legislative redistricting in Missouri—one for the state Senate and another for the state House of Representatives. To form the Senate commission, the state committee of both major political parties nominates 10 members, for a total of 20 nominees. From this pool, the governor selects five members per party, for a total of 10 commissioners. 

The Senate Independent Bipartisan Citizens Commission failed to submit proposed maps to the secretary of state’s office by the December 23, 2021, deadline. Therefore, responsibility for developing Senate district boundaries was assumed by the Missouri Judicial Commission for Redistricting. The judicial commission released its final plan and sent it to the secretary of state’s office on March 15. The commission’s chair, Missouri Appeals Court Justice Cynthia Lynette Martin, said in a press release, “The Judicial Redistricting Commission’s work has been thorough and labor intensive, and was purposefully undertaken with the goal to file a constitutionally compliant plan and map well in advance of the commission’s constitutional deadline to avoid disenfranchising voters given the candidate filing deadline and the deadline for preparing ballots.”
Scott Faughn of The Missouri Times wrote that “[t]he biggest difference in this map and that previous map is that it shifts the weight of some of the districts from rural weighted districts to evenly split districts and even enhances the suburban influence inside several republican seats.” He added, “the new map produces 7 solid democratic districts, and 3 likely democratic districts. On the republican side the new map produces 18 solid republican districts, and 3 more likely republican districts,” with two competitive districts when the current incumbents no longer seek office.

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Missouri enacted new congressional boundaries in May

By Dave Beaudoin
In 2022 elections
June 30, 2022 at 7:09 PM

Missouri enacted new congressional district boundaries on May 18 when Gov. Mike Parson (R) signed them into law. According to Rudi Keller of the Missouri Independent, “No change in the partisan makeup of the Missouri delegation, currently six Republicans and two Democrats, is expected as a result of the map.” Keller also wrote, “nine counties…shifted almost wholly or entirely into new districts. Boundaries shifted in the five large-population counties that were previously split and a new split was introduced in Boone County in central Missouri.” This map takes effect for Missouri’s 2022 congressional elections.

In Missouri, congressional district boundaries are drawn by the state legislature. These lines are subject to veto by the governor.

After the Senate passed the maps, Keller wrote: “The first plan, released in December with backing from the Republican leaders of both chambers, essentially kept the partisan breakdown of the state’s delegation unchanged, with six safe Republican districts and two Democratic districts in Kansas City and St. Louis. The House passed that bill in January and, after weeks of on-and-off debate, the Senate passed a significantly altered version in late March. The seven members of the Senate’s conservative caucus demanded a map that cracked the Kansas City district and combined it with a huge swath of rural counties to make it possible for the GOP to capture the seat. The ‘6-2’ vs. ‘7-1’ debate came to a head in February when the conservative caucus began a filibuster that blocked progress not only on the redistricting plan but also on basically every other bill. At one point, two Republican Senators got into a shouting match and had to be physically separated.”

The Missouri House of Representatives approved the final version of the new congressional districts on May 9 by a vote of 101-47. Eighty-six Republicans and 15 Democrats approved the new map and 28 Democrats and 19 Republicans voted against it. The state Senate approved the legislation—known as HB 2909—on May 11 by a vote of 22-11. Sixteen Republicans and six Democrats voted to approve the new boundaries and seven Republicans and four Democrats voted against it.

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Louisiana legislature adjourns special redistricting session without new congressional boundaries, plaintiffs appeal to SCOTUS

By Dave Beaudoin
In State
June 22, 2022 at 5:32 PM

The Louisiana legislature adjourned a special redistricting session on June 18 without approving revised congressional district boundaries. Governor John Bel Edwards (D) had called the special session on June 7 after the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana struck down the state’s congressional district map and enjoined the state from using the districts for the 2022 elections. The special session began on June 15 and was scheduled to end on June 20.

After the session adjourned, State Sen. Rick Ward (R) said, “The problem I’ve run into is that we can’t find anything collectively that can get us to 20 votes. It’s a difficult task, one quite frankly that I think the courts will have to decide.” District Court Justice Shelly Dick, who authored the decision overturning the map, had previously set a hearing to review proposed redistricting plans on June 29. The judge’s original order said that the court would enact a remedial congressional district plan if the legislature did not do so by June 20.

The U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit had issued an administrative stay of the district court’s ruling on June 9 pending further proceedings and vacated that stay on June 12.

On June 17, Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin (R) and Attorney General Jeff Landry (R) asked the Supreme Court of the United States to stay the federal district court’s decision overturning the congressional map pending appeal and petitioned the court to hear the case. The plaintiff’s appeal said, “If Section 2 [of the Voting Rights Act] does not require creating a gerrymandered second majority-Black district, Louisiana’s entire electorate suffers an irreversible Fourteenth Amendment violation when they next cast their ballots for their congressional representatives…Given the risk to the public that would arise without a stay, entering one far outweighs any burden Plaintiffs may claim.”

Louisiana originally enacted congressional district boundaries on March 30 when the state legislature overrode Gov. Edwards’ veto of legislation establishing the new districts. On March 9, Gov. Edwards vetoed the congressional district map that the legislature had passed on February 18. The state Senate voted to override the governor’s veto 27-11, with all ‘yes’ votes from Republicans and all ‘no’ votes from Democrats. The state House of Representatives overrode Gov. Edwards’ veto 72-32 with 68 Republicans, three independents, and one Democrat voting in favor and all votes against by Democrats.

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New York court overturns state Assembly map for 2024; rules existing boundaries be used for this year’s elections

By Dave Beaudoin
In State
June 17, 2022 at 10:17 AM

An appellate division of the New York Supreme Court ruled on June 10 that the state’s Assembly district boundaries adopted in February 2022 were invalid but should still be used for the 2022 legislative elections. The appellate division ruling determined that the Assembly district map was enacted in violation of the state’s constitutional redistricting process and that a New York City-based state trial court should oversee new boundaries for the 2024 elections.

The court’s order said, “The petition is timely to the extent it seeks a declaration that the February 2022 assembly map is invalid due to procedural infirmities in the manner in which it was adopted…and, consistent with that decision, we so declare.” The order also said, “The request for a delay of the 2022 assembly primary elections is denied in any event, because the redrawing and implementing of a new assembly map before a 2022 primary election delayed even until September is, at this late date, no longer feasible.”

New York enacted new state Senate districts on May 20 when Steuben County Surrogate Court Justice Patrick McAllister ordered the adoption of maps drawn by a court-appointed redistricting special master. McAllister had overturned the Senate district boundaries on March 31 for violating the state’s process for redistricting. The New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, upheld McAllister’s decision on April 27. On April 29, McAllister postponed New York’s primary elections for congressional and legislative districts to August 23.

In 2014, New York voters approved a constitutional amendment establishing new redistricting procedures beginning in 2020. This amendment created a 10-member commission to adopt redistricting plans, with state legislative leaders appointing eight members of the commission and the commission itself selecting the other two members. The amendment required that the legislature reject two separate sets of redistricting plans before amending the commission’s proposals and districts not be drawn to favor or disfavor candidates or parties. In prior redistricting cycles, the legislature was responsible for its own redistricting.

The commission voted 5-5 on January 3, 2022, on two sets of proposals for legislative redistricting, so it submitted both sets of proposals to the legislature. Both the state Assembly and state Senate voted down the map proposals on January 10 and the commission did not submit a new set of maps to the legislature. On February 3, 2022, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed new state legislative district boundaries that the legislature had developed after the state Senate approved them 43-20 and the state Assembly approved, 120-27.

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Federal appeals court allows ruling overturning Louisiana’s congressional boundaries to remain

By Dave Beaudoin
In State
June 15, 2022 at 1:58 PM

On June 12, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated an administrative stay it had issued on June 9 of a federal district court’s ruling that struck down Louisiana’s congressional district boundaries. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals also denied motions to stay the district court’s decision pending appeal. As a result, the congressional districts that the legislature adopted in March are overturned.

In its ruling, the court wrote, “Although we must acknowledge that this appeal’s exigency has left us little time to review the record, we conclude that, though the plaintiffs’ arguments and the district court’s analysis are not without weaknesses, the defendants have not met their burden of making a ‘strong showing’ of likely success on the merits.”

The Fifth Circuit’s ruling directed “the Clerk to issue an expedited briefing schedule and to calendar this matter for argument before the next available randomly selected merits panel that is already scheduled to hear arguments during the week of July 4, 2022…it is feasible that the merits panel, conducting a less-rushed examination of the record in the light of differently framed arguments, may well side with the defendants.”

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana had struck down the state’s congressional district map on June 6 and blocked the state from using the districts for the 2022 elections. The district court’s order blocking the map said, “The appropriate remedy in this context is a remedial congressional redistricting plan that includes an additional majority-Black congressional district. The United States Supreme Court instructs that the Legislature should have the first opportunity to draw that plan. Therefore, the Court ORDERS the Louisiana Legislature to enact a remedial plan on or before June 20, 2022. If the Legislature is unable to pass a remedial plan by that date, the Court will issue additional orders to enact a remedial plan.”

Louisiana enacted a new congressional map on March 30 when the state legislature overrode Gov. John Bel Edwards’ (D) veto of legislation establishing the new districts. The state Senate voted to override 27-11 with all ‘yes’ votes from Republicans and all ‘no’ votes from Democrats. The state House of Representatives overrode Edwards’ veto 72-32 with 68 Republicans, three independents, and one Democrat voting in favor and all votes against by Democrats. Gov. Edwards had vetoed the congressional district map on March 9.

On June 7, Gov. Edwards called a special legislative session on redistricting that began June 15 and was scheduled to end on June 20. Louisiana’s filing deadline for congressional candidates is July 22.

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Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stays district court ruling blocking Louisiana’s congressional district map

By Dave Beaudoin
In Federal
June 13, 2022 at 11:14 AM

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an administrative stay on June 9 of a federal district court ruling blocking Louisiana’s congressional district map pending further proceedings. The United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana had struck down the state’s congressional district map on June 6 and blocked the state from using the districts for the 2022 elections.

The federal district court’s order blocking the map said, “The appropriate remedy in this context is a remedial congressional redistricting plan that includes an additional majority-Black congressional district. The United States Supreme Court instructs that the Legislature should have the first opportunity to draw that plan. Therefore, the Court ORDERS the Louisiana Legislature to enact a remedial plan on or before June 20, 2022. If the Legislature is unable to pass a remedial plan by that date, the Court will issue additional orders to enact a remedial plan.”

Louisiana enacted a new congressional map on March 30 when the state legislature overrode Gov. John Bel Edwards’ (D) veto of legislation establishing the new districts. The state Senate voted to override 27-11 with all ‘yes’ votes from Republicans and all ‘no’ votes from Democrats. The state House of Representatives overrode Edwards’ veto 72-32 with 68 Republicans, three independents, and one Democrat voting in favor and all votes against by Democrats. Gov. Edwards had vetoed the congressional district map on March 9, saying, “This map is simply not fair to the people of Louisiana and does not meet the standards set forth in the federal Voting Rights Act.”

Louisiana’s filing deadline for congressional candidates is July 22.

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Federal court enacts legislative maps for Ohio’s 2022 elections

By Ellen Morrissey
In State
June 1, 2022 at 12:14 PM

A ruling issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit took effect on May 28, ordering the enactment of state legislative maps for Ohio’s 2022 elections and setting the legislative primary date for August 2, 2022. The Ohio Redistricting Commission approved the maps selected by the court in February 2022. The court ruled on April 20 and said the maps would take effect if state court proceedings had not produced an alternative by May 28.

The Ohio Redistricting Commission initially approved a set of legislative maps in a 5-2 vote along party lines on September 16, 2021. The Ohio Supreme Court struck down those maps in a 4-3 decision on January 12, 2022, and ordered the commission to redraw them. Since then, the state supreme court has rejected four sets of maps submitted by the commission, including the February maps enacted by the federal court. The commission initially approved those maps on February 24 in a 4-3 vote and approved them a second time on May 5 in a 4-3 vote. State Auditor Keith Faber (R) joined the two Democratic members of the commission in voting against the maps. The state supreme court rejected both submissions. 

The state court proceedings are ongoing, with another deadline for revised maps set for June 3. The federal ruling applies to the maps for 2022 elections, meaning the state court proceedings may produce maps for subsequent legislative elections.

As of May 28, 49 states have adopted new state legislative maps, making Montana the final state to have not adopted legislative maps for the 2022 elections. As of May 28, 2012, 46 states had enacted legislative redistricting plans after the 2010 census.

Nationwide, states have completed legislative redistricting for 1,923 of 1,972 state Senate seats (97.5%) and 5,313 of 5,411 state House seats (98.2%).

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