There will be two more public meetings each day this week of the panel of lawmakers that will create the maps for Ohio’s House and Senate districts. Democrats have raised concerns that Republicans who dominate the process aren’t playing fair and are pointing to a tweet from a party leader as proof.
The tweet from Hamilton County Republican Party chair Alex Triantafilou has been deleted, but screenshots still exist.
It said: "This won't be my most popular tweet. But Republicans should look out for Republicans when drawing the lines for apportionment. We won. Obama taught us. Elections have consequences. This is a red state. Treat it as such. Voters value a spine.”
Desiree Tims is the president and CEO of Innovation Ohio and ran for Congress last year as a Democrat. She's also part of a coalition of 30 groups promoting maps that would reflect Ohio’s 2020 vote: 54% Republican and 46% Democrat.
She calls the tweet shameful.
“We are not going to champion any side, Democrat or Republican, to cheat and gerrymander maps for one party’s political benefit," Tims said.
Among the Democrats publicly denouncing the tweet was former Ohio Democratic Party Chair David Pepper, who testified at Tuesday's Ohio Redistricting Commission meeting in Cincinnati.
Pepper tweeted that Triantafilou's "pro-election rigging tweet violates the spirit and language of the Ohio Constitution, and the mandate of 70% of voters who voted to end partisan gerrymandering. Twice. If the committee follows this absurd and illegal advice, the maps will be struck down."
There’s been no response to emails to the Hamilton County GOP chair, but he tweeted out some of the negative reaction he got, saying, “The classy Democrats live on Twitter.”
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