Redistricting maps maintain previous changes to Butler County’s districts

Besides being renumbered, Butler County’s Ohio House districts will represent all of Butler County except for Milford and Wayne townships, and the city of Trenton. Those communities will be represented by the same lawmaker who will represent Preble County and southwest portions of the Dayton area. Those communities will also be represented by the district north of Butler County in the Ohio Senate. The 4th Ohio Senate District will represent the balance of Butler County.

Changes are greatest in the area’s 16 House districts, though some of the five Senate districts ― especially those in Montgomery County ― did not escape unscathed.

The new maps, if upheld in the next few days by the Ohio Supreme Court, would technically create one Democratic-leaning Senate district and two Democratic-leaning House districts, instead of the one current Democratic House district.

But only one House district ― the newly numbered District 38 ― is solidly Democratic, according to the partisan breakdown in the Republican-backed plan. The other two lean by razor-thin margins of less than one percentage point. Those figures are based on statewide electoral results from 2016 through 2020.

Senate Districts 4, 7, and 10 remain largely unchanged. District 5, currently held by state Sen. Steve Huffman, R-Tipp City, keeps Miami, Preble, and southern Darke counties; but its configuration in Montgomery County changes dramatically. Instead of holding the western central part of the county and much Dayton proper, it will include the county’s northern end and about half of the city.

Huffman said his district in the new map is essentially the same as in the map approved in September, which the Supreme Court overturned.

“It did not appreciably change at all,” he said.

In the previous electoral map, used in Huffman’s 2018 election, his Senate district included the House district now held by state Rep. Willis Blackshear, Huffman said. Under the new map, he swaps that area for the House district held by state Rep. Phil Plummer, while state Sen. Niraj Antani picks up Blackshear’s district.

“I believe that I have about 110,000 new voters that I need to get out, and get them to know what I’ve done over the last eight years in the General Assembly,” Huffman said.

District 6, now held by Antani, R-Miamisburg, will no longer include part of northern Montgomery County. It will retain eastern and southern portions of the county but will slide around to incorporate the county’s southwestern side.

Antani declined to comment on the changes, saying he didn’t think it was prudent until it’s seen whether the Supreme Court will accept the map as constitutional.

In the House, perhaps the most significant change for this area is the creation of a new District 38 which takes over central Dayton and eastern Montgomery County. That district number was previously used near Akron. Now it will be the only solidly Democratic district in the region, by nearly a 40-point margin, according to the plan breakdown.

Meanwhile House District 39, the only regional seat now held by a Democrat ― state Rep. Willis Blackshear, D-Dayton, shifts west into the suburbs and takes over all of Preble County plus part of northern Butler County.

Blackshear said Monday, during an online forum with the League of Women Voters for the Greater Dayton Area, that District 38 is the real successor to his current district – but at this point, it’s unclear which district he should or could run in. The change not only in district lines but in district numbers can be very confusing for voters, he said.

The change will make District 39 lean Republican by nearly 20 points. Most of this new area has heretofore been District 43, held by state Rep. Rodney Creech, R-West Alexandria. Number 43 has now moved far to the north, covering a vertical strip around Bowling Green.

In the House, many of the significant changes come from rearrangements within Montgomery County.

District 40, held by state Rep. Phil Plummer, R-Butler Twp., will be renumbered as District 35. It will lose its southeastern extension but gain parts of north-central Montgomery.

District 41, held by state Rep. Andrea White, R-Kettering, is to be renumbered as District 36. It will lose its southern and northern portions but will extend further west into Dayton. Those changes will technically make the new District 36 into a Democratic district but by 0.46%.

District 42 will be renumbered as District 37. Held currently by state Rep. Tom Young, R-Washington Twp., it will gain the southern part of the former District 41, plus a chunk of western Montgomery County, while losing some of Dayton’s south end.

Young said while his district adds Centerville, other changes are minor – assuming the Supreme Court accepts the new maps.

He knows many people are concerned how the primary process will work, as districts remain uncertain so close to primary deadlines. In reviewing candidates’ applications, boards of elections need to be forgiving of minor mistakes and confusion with new district numbers, Young said.

“Those are the nuances that we’re going to have to deal with,” he said.

Butler County’s three districts will be renumbered and reshaped from the current configurations. District 51, held by state Rep. Sara Carruthers, R-Hamilton, becomes District 44; District 52, held by state Rep. Jennifer Gross, R-West Chester Twp., becomes District 45; and District 53, held by state Rep. Thomas Hall, R-Madison Twp., becomes District 46.

“We went from more of an agricultural, more of a rural district, to more of a suburban district with picking up Liberty Twp.,” Hall said. “The rest of the district remains pretty intact.”

Representing fast-growing Liberty Twp. will shift his office’s focus somewhat, but as the primary election approaches, Hall will focus on knocking on every door he can, to let voters know what he’s doing in Columbus.

Hall said in his first year he introduced 16 bills, of which four passed the House.

“That put us in the top 10 of the entire Ohio House, put us in the top three of the entire freshman class,” he said.

By contrast, neighboring Warren County remains relatively stable, with state Rep. Paul Zeltwanger’s District 54 and state Rep. Scott Lipps’ District 62 shifting only slightly; though District 62 is renumbered as District 55.

The Ohio Redistricting Commission ratified new state House and Senate maps last September, but on Jan. 12 the Ohio Supreme Court overturned them as unfairly favoring Republicans, who already hold a supermajority in both houses. The court gave mapmakers 10 days to draw new ones, ruling 4-3 that the overall partisan lean of districts should resemble the 54% Republican-46% Democratic way Ohioans have voted in recent statewide elections, to the extent that is possible while meeting all other constitutional requirements.

On Saturday evening the redistricting commission voted 5-2 to approve the new maps. That’s the same vote as for the overturned ones; once again, the commission adopted a Republican proposal without any Democratic support, meaning the maps must be redone in four years.

Under the new maps, Republicans would have the advantage in 57 of the state’s 99 House districts and 20 of the 33 Senate districts. Currently, they hold 65 House seats and 25 Senate seats.

Twelve of the Democratic-leaning House and four Senate districts only favor Democrats by razor-thin margins, while none of the Republican-leaning seats are as close, according to a summary of the plan.

Opponents of the now-overturned maps swiftly indicated they will fill objections to the new ones too. But they have only three days to do so, as the Feb. 2 filing deadline for state legislative seats approaches.

BUTLER COUNTY’S OHIO HOUSE AND SENATE DISTRICTS

Here are the changes to the House and Senate districts in Butler County: