With Ohio being a popular state to redistrict now that the GOP's proposed 12-4 gerrymander is at high risk of being overturned via referendum, I thought I'd make my contribution. Instead of being a fair, communities-of-interest serious suggestion with nice compact districts, I figured I would push the limits of map-making and show you all the exact opposite of what the GOP tried to do. Keep this in mind if the actual map-drawing goes to the courts and produces a fair map that the Ohio Republican Party will probably attack as a Dem gerrymander.
No. THIS is a Dem gerrymander:
In a 2004-like year, with good turnout on both sides, a more or less evenly divided electorate, and both sides doing their share of offense, I would call this a 12-3-1 map, twelve Dem seats, three GOP seats, and one true swing district. Needless to say, the current 13 Republican incumbents in Ohio would all hate this, even though at least three of them would eventually emerge from this wreck. Let's get to it, starting with the state's southwest corner.
OH-01 (Blue): Steve Chabot (R). Republicans insist on continuously splitting Cincinnati between two districts. I said screw that and packed it as best I could, sending an arm up to Hamilton as well. It's tough because as the district expands outwards you quickly run into very strong McCain precincts, upwards of 70% to the east and even 80% to the west. So it goes north into less red precincts, and this should be enough to sink Chabot once and for all. Obama/McCain 60%/39% (old stats 55/44).
OH-02 (Green): John Boehner (R) and Jean Schmidt (R). Basically a half-donut ringing the Cincinnati suburbs of OH-01, taking in some of the most insanely Republican precincts in the whole state. Technically Schmidt lives right in the edge of OH-01 as I drew it but she'd certainly try running here instead. I say try because Boehner would demolish her of course. O/M 31/68 (old OH-02 40/59, old OH-08 38/60).
OH-03 (Pink): Mike Turner (R). Currently Dayton is cracked between this one and a weird tail that Boehner's 8th district sends in to help absorb Democrats on the northeastern side. I consolidated the area in one district, and as others did sent an arm up to grab Springfield too instead of the deep red rural precincts currently attached to the district. And because this is a gerrymander, I also sent tentacles out to grab Dem-leaning or swingy towns like Urbana, Xenia, London,and Oxford to make population and avoid conservative suburbs of Dayton. Jim Jordan, living in Urbana, is actually dropped in here but he wouldn't run here. I doubt even Turner could win this. O/M 56/43 (old 47/51).
OH-04 (Red): Pat Tiberi (R), and Bob Gibbs (R). The district remains a giant swath of rural central Ohio that Jim Jordan is mostly familiar with, but he has been drawn out (actually dropped in the Dayton district) and it now extends further east to grab the homes of Tiberi and Gibbs instead. Jordan could try running here as he is more familiar to the residents, but that would lead to quite the pileup. It gets really ugly on the eastern half as it picks and chooses the most conservative rural precincts from Dem districts, allowing its more moderate population centers to be dug out. O/M 32/66 (old 38/60).
OH-05 (Yellow): Steve Austria (R). Basically all the stuff in Ohio's southwest corner that isn't already spoken for. It retains Austria's home just east of Dayton, but it's mostly territory he doesn't know as the population center in Springfield has been removed and replaced with a bunch of random rural precincts collected from multiple old districts. Turner could also try running here if the Dayton seat is too blue for him now. So could Jordan. Even Schmidt might take her chances here rather than face Boehner. Who knows? The is the final GOP vote sink. O/M 33/65 (old OH-07 45/54).
OH-06 (Purple): Bill Johnson (R). Not quite as stringy as the old one, it is now a bit more situated on its southern half and only extends as far north as East Liverpool. Overall it retains the same overall partisan numbers and I could not get it much safer for our side without accomplishing my goals elsewhere. We will just have to depend on this district's abnormally strong Democratic lean in state politics to turn out what I feel was an upset winner in Johnson. The Democratic average in last year's elections was 61% and I do not think Johnson can hold this in non-2010 years. O/M 48/50 (same as old).
OH-07 (Grey): OPEN. Republicans used to crack Columbus three ways, diluting it with Republican exurbs. Now they want to pack it in one monstrosity, sinking as many Democrats as they can into it. The optimal split is between two districts as it turns out. Takes in mostly the southern half of the city and conservative suburbs to protect neighboring districts. O/M 56/43 (old OH-07 45/54).
OH-08 (Slate Blue): OPEN. However I think Bob Gibbs might parachute in as it is a lot of the same territory he has worked with before, unfortunately for him it is a lot swingier than his other option in OH-04, which if he could get past the primary he would be safe. This seat is custom-made for a return of Zack Space. I also apparently drew in John Boccieri's home in Alliance so he could run too. O/M 50/48 (old OH-18 45/52).
OH-09 (Cyan): Marcy Kaptur (D) and Bob Latta (R). As with most sensible maps I've drawn in most of the northwest corner of the state with Toledo, rather than stringing out the city all the way to the east. Unfortunately for Latta that includes his home in Bowling Green. I also sent a finger down to snag Lima. O/M 57/41 (old OH-09 62/36, old OH-05 45/53).
OH-10 (Deep Pink): Dennis Kucinich (D). When I moved the Toledo district west, this happened. Kucinich won't be happy with a seat that goes all the way to the eastern suburbs of Toledo (and he probably lives just outside of this district) but it's his best chance unless he wants to fight Betty Sutton in a primary. And if he can't hold this district, some other Democrat will. O/M 55/44 (old 59/39).
OH-11 (Yellow-Green): Marcia Fudge (D). Sending the Cleveland district down to grab Akron is bullshit. It's nearly impossible to keep it majority African-American anyway as every seat grows to accommodate the loss of two districts. So I didn't try to, and instead had it swap out conservative territory with neighboring districts, and give up liberal areas without significant numbers of African-Americans. The result is that this seat unpacks quite a bit, while still staying safe for Fudge. It's now only 46% black but given the composition of the rest of the district it is highly unlikely the other 54% would vote in a bloc to deny them their choice of representative. O/M 76/24 (old 85/14).
OH-12 (Navy Blue): Steve Stivers (R). The north half of Columbus, plus Delaware. While it may be only a few points more Dem than his old seat, given the complete loss of conservative exurbs and all the new territory, I do not think this is a seat Stivers can hold long-term. Neither could Pat Tiberi who lives just outside of this district but might try to move in should OH-04 get crowded. O/M 56/42 (old OH-15 54/45, old OH-12 53/46).
OH-13 (Slate Grey): Betty Sutton (D) and Jim Renacci (R). Loses Akron and Lorain, gains more of swingy Medina county. Sutton wouldn't like this but she held up okay last year and there just aren't enough other Democrats in the area, and I did not want to concede a 4th GOP seat. O/M 54/45 (old OH-13 57/42, old OH-16 48/50).
OH-14 (Olive): Steve LaTourette (R). Loses chunks of conservative areas, picks up liberal precincts in Cleveland, Warren, and other towns along the eastern side of the state. He's never been seriously challenged but this would definitely provoke one. O/M 55/43 (old 49/49).
OH-15 (Orange): OPEN. Swingy areas across a whole mishmash of central Ohio districts, anchored by the liberal Akron. I don't even know what this seat is a successor to. But I like our chances here. O/M 52/46.
OH-16 (Light Green): Tim Ryan (D). Loses a bunch of areas to the north and on its eastern side to help flip OH-14, picks up a bunch of more conservative areas running south from the old OH-18. Ryan's profile should still fit this district well. O/M 53/45 (old 62/36).