Voters in Ohio will decide on a citizen initiative on Nov. 5 to establish the Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission (CRC), a 15-member non-politician commission responsible for adopting state legislative and congressional redistricting plans. This type of commission is also known as an independent redistricting commission.
According to campaign finance reports filed on July 31, the group Citizens Not Politicians, which is backing the initiative, raised $26.95 million.
That’s a record amount raised for a ballot measure to create an independent redistricting commission. In 2018, for example, Michigan Proposal 2 raised $17 million, $16.6 million of which was for the support campaign. Colorado Amendment Y and Amendment Z, a pair of ballot measures to create an independent redistricting commission, raised $5.81 million. In Utah, where voters decided on Proposition 4, $2.8 million was raised.
Before this year, the most money raised during an independent redistricting commission initiative was in 2010 with California Proposition 20, which transferred congressional redistricting from the legislature to the California Citizens Redistricting Commission. Proposition 20 saw a total of $20.84 million raised, with supporters raising $15.29 million and opponents raising $5.55 million.
Since 2000, there have been two other citizen initiatives to create independent redistricting commissions in Ohio. In 2012, voters rejected Issue 2, for which $16.41 million was raised. Supporters raised $8.2 million and opponents raised $8.21 million. In 2005, voters rejected Issue 4, which saw $10.75 million raised. Supporters raised $5.04 million and opponents raised $5.71 million.
As of July 31, there was no organized opposition to the Ohio initiative. That’s not uncommon at this stage of the election cycle because the initiative was only certified on July 23. Historically, the campaigns supporting these types of initiatives have raised significantly more money than opponents — except in Ohio. In 2012, opponents raised $11,997 more than supporters. In 2005, opponents raised $673,456 more.
Garth Kant, Senior Press Secretary of the Ohio Senate Majority Caucus, blasted the initiative in a statement, calling the proposal “a Trojan Horse plan to ‘fix’ our redistricting laws for drawing Congressional and Statehouse maps by replacing an amendment voters overwhelmingly approved in 2015 with an exceedingly complex, harebrained, and radical scheme. … Radical progressives are using the same tactic around the country: falsely claiming Republicans are gerrymandering and promoting a ‘bipartisan’ fix that would actually favor real gerrymandering by Democrats.”
Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-7), a supporter of the initiative, said, “This is an extraordinary step in returning power to the people and putting citizens in charge of the redistricting process in Ohio. With fair districts, we can fund our schools properly, create good paying jobs, and stop pushing through divisive legislation that does nothing to help Ohio’s hardworking families get ahead.”
Through July 31, the largest donors to Citizens Not Politicians were the Sixteen Thirty Fund ($6.67 million), the American Civil Liberties Union ($3.58 million), Article IV ($3.5 million), Our American Future Foundation ($2.45 million), and the Ohio Progressive Collaborative and TIDES Foundation, both contributing $2 million.
On June 2, Gov. Mike DeWine (R) signed Ohio House Bill 1, which prohibited foreign nationals, including foreign permanent residents, from making direct or indirect contributions to support a statewide ballot measure. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R), who supported the bill, highlighted the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which receives funding from Hansjörg Wyss, a Swiss national based in Wyoming. In 2023, the Sixteen Thirty Fund was the largest donor, contributing $6.97 million, to the campaign behind a successful ballot initiative to provide a state constitutional right to abortion in Ohio. Sixteen Thirty Fund contributed $6 million to Citizens Not Politicians on May 23, 10 days before the bill was signed. HB 1 goes into effect on Sept. 1.
Outside of California and Florida, the initiative is the most expensive of 2024 thus far. It is the only statewide measure on the ballot for Ohio’s 2024 general election. The next campaign finance reporting deadline in Ohio is Oct. 24.
Produced in association with Ballotpedia. Edited for Zenger News by Kyana Rubinfeld
