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Cutline: This map shows Ohio’s new Congressional districts as determined by a panel from Ohio’s General Assembly. The new lines were drawn to reflect even representation for similar population sizes – in Ohio’s case that is 630,730 people in each district. The Buckeye State will lose one district when the new lines go into effect in January 2003.

According to the 2000 Census, Ohio’s population has increased, but this growth was at a rate that is slower than in other parts of the country. As a result, Ohio loses one Congressional district, dropping from 19 to 18. Representatives from these new districts will be elected during the primary and general elections this year, but the new districts won’t go into effect until January 2003.

A panel of lawmakers from the Ohio General Assembly redrew the Congressional district lines to reflect the loss. Here are a few highlights from the new Congressional district plan:

• Rep. Ted Strickland, D-Portsmouth, and Rep. Jim Traficant, D-Youngstown, will be in the same district stretching about 330 miles along the Ohio River from Mahoning County in the north to Scioto County in the south.
• Rep. Tony Hall’s, D-Dayton, current district, which includes only Montgomery County, will be expanded to include portions of Warren County and all of Clinton and Highland counties.
• Rep. Dave Hobson, R-Springfield, will lose Champaign, Logan and Union counties and will add a portion of Franklin and all of Perry County.
• Rep. Bob Ney’s, R-Bellaire, district will expand to include all of Hocking, Holmes, Jackson, Knox and Vinton counties and portions of Athens and Ross counties.
• Rep. Steve LaTourette’s, R-Painesville, district will now include all of Ashtabula, Lake and Geauga counties and portions of Cuyahoga, Portage, Summit and Trumbull counties.
• Rep. Tom Sawyer’s, D-Akron, district will expand to include parts of Mahoning, Portage, Summit and Trumbull counties.
• Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s, D-Toledo, district will include all of Erie and Ottawa counties and parts of Lorain County. Fulton County will become part of Rep. Paul Gillmor’s, R-Port Clinton, district.

If you have questions about the reapportionment (detailed in the Jan. 21 issue of Buckeye Farm News) or redistricting processes, contact Chris Baldwin, OFBF director of political education, at 614-249-2414.