‘Uncharted waters’: What’s happening with Ohio’s primary election? What to expect
Ohio voters have just one week from today to register to vote in the state’s May 3 primary election.
The deadline is Monday, April 4. Barring any last-minute delay that could arise, early voting is set to begin at county boards of elections the following Tuesday, April 5.
Though many voters and local elections boards are likely already prepared for the state’s primary, the group overseeing once-every-decade changes to Ohio’s state and congressional legislative districts is anything but.
The Ohio Supreme Court has rejected the Ohio Redistricting Commission’s last three sets of state legislative district maps, as well as one congressional district map, for being unconstitutionally gerrymandered to favor Republicans.
While the commission worked last week toward its fourth set of state House and Senate district maps, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose directed county boards of elections to remove candidates for the Ohio General Assembly and state central committees from their May 3 primary ballots.
State lawmakers can still choose to reschedule the May 3 primary for a later date or reschedule just the state legislative races — possibly during August’s special election season, according to LaRose’s office.
State Rep. Michele Lepore-Hagan of Youngstown, D-58th, who is unable to run for re-election due to term limits, said she doesn’t think splitting the primary election over two dates “helps anybody.”
Statehouse Democrats have posed legislative amendments to move the entire election multiple times over the past month, but those measures have been voted down along party lines, Lepore-Hagan said.
“Every time we do this, the Republicans push us down and rule us out of order,” Lepore-Hagan told Mahoning Matters.
She blamed the state’s primary problems on the five Republicans on the seven-member commission, including Gov. Mike DeWine, LaRose, Auditor Keith Faber, House Speaker Bob Cupp and Senate President Matt Huffman.
“It is a mess. [Election delays are] going to cost the state of Ohio $20 million to fix. It’s ridiculous that it’s happening. It was unnecessary,” Lepore-Hagan said.
State Sen. Michael Rulli of Salem, R-33rd, who does not have a primary election challenger this year, said he thinks the decision to move state legislative races was poorly received on both sides of the aisle.
“Imagine you’re a candidate, and you’re raising this money for a primary. Now you have to raise the money again and do the work again,” Rulli told Mahoning Matters. “It’s almost like you’re gonna run three races.”
Rulli said he thinks it’s best to let the two independent, bipartisan mapmakers hired by the Ohio Redistricting Commission do their jobs, and possibly reach a solution.
“These are uncharted waters. I don’t think we’ve ever been in this situation in Ohio,” he said. “I’d prefer everything to stay the exact same. I don’t know if that’s gonna be able to happen.”
Those mapmakers, Republican Douglas Johnson, the president and founder of the National Demographics Corporation, and Democrat Michael McDonald, a University of Florida political science professor, have been working for days on maps that can pass constitutional muster. Their efforts have been livestreamed on The Ohio Channel.
On Sunday, they presented draft maps for review. But as of that evening, the commission had yet to take any action on them.
The state’s high court has ordered the commission to offer up a new set of maps by today.
Federal judges during a hearing set for Wednesday may also consider a philosophical question from Republican voters: Whether the commission’s third set of House and Senate district maps is more unconstitutional than being unable to hold the legislative primaries — which would violate voting rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, the Associated Press reported.
Valley voters on May 3 will still be able to cast ballots for candidates for statewide offices, including the races for governor and secretary of state, both of which have primary challenges and are unaffected by LaRose’s directive. They can also vote for congressional races, including the race for outgoing Republican Rob Portman’s U.S. Senate seat, which are also unaffected.
Voters can also pick their local candidates, like in races for county commissioner, and decide on local issues like school levies and liquor options.
Hear from Mahoning primary candidates today
The Community Mobilization Coalition of Greater Youngstown will host an online candidates forum at 6:30 p.m. today.
The forum will feature candidates running in primary elections in Mahoning County, including those running for state representative in the 58th and 59th districts, state senator in the 33rd district, Common Pleas Court judge, 7th District Court of Appeals and county commissioner.
The forum, which is open to the public, can be viewed live on Zoom and New Bethel Baptist Church’s Facebook page.
