Governor Mike DeWine’s office announced the “reconstituted” commission’s meeting, scheduled for 9 a.m. in the Ohio Senate’s Finance Hearing Room. The agenda includes noting appointed members and, notably, the selection of co-chairpersons, a process that stalled the commission’s work in its last 2023 session.
The seven-member commission includes Governor DeWine, Auditor of State Keith Faber, and Secretary of State Frank LaRose, alongside two members each from the Ohio House and Senate, representing both parties. Confirmed legislative members include House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn and Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio. State Rep. Brian Stewart, a Republican, has also been appointed, though a GOP Senate appointee was unannounced as of last Friday.
If co-chairs are chosen, the meeting will move to consider congressional maps. The only proposals currently confirmed for the docket are the Democratic maps introduced by Antonio and Isaacsohn in early September. These maps, which would likely create an 8-7 split (Republican-leaning to Democratic-leaning districts), were not voted on by the Joint Committee on Congressional Redistricting, with Republicans claiming they were unfairly gerrymandered.
A Republican caucus map has not yet been publicly released.
Republicans argue that the constitutional deadlines are not absolute, citing a final November 30 legislative deadline for map approval, which they say gives them more time than anti-gerrymandering advocates suggest.
If the ORC fails to reach a bipartisan agreement on a map by the Oct. 31 deadline, the process returns to the General Assembly. At that point, the Republican supermajority chambers could approve a map with only a simple majority vote by the Nov. 30 deadline, bypassing the need for Democratic support. The resulting map will have immediate implications for the upcoming 2026 congressional races.