Letter to the editor: Here’s our chance to end gerrymandering

Editor’s note: The Portager publishes letters to the editor from the community. The opinions expressed are published not because they necessarily reflect those of the publication but because we feel they contribute meaningfully to the local discourse on matters of public interest.

Every Portage County voter will have a chance Nov. 5 to say “yes” or “no” to state Issue 1, the proposed constitutional amendment to end gerrymandering. If nothing else, Issue 1 reveals how breathtakingly shameless Republicans have become. In their effort to hold onto power, they’ll say anything.

Issue 1 is the brainchild of Citizens Not Politicians, a coalition led by the League of Women Voters. It aims to end, once and for all, the horrible and horribly abusive trick of “gerrymandering.” That’s when politicians draw district boundaries that let them pick their voters, rather than risk letting voters decide who best to represent them.

In the Aug. 15 newsletter of the Portage County Republican Party, the state GOP chair, Alex Triantafilou, claims Issue 1 would “require gerrymandering of legislative maps” (emphasis mine) by creating a citizens’ commission “to draw maps with a specific outcome in mind.” Specific outcome? Puh-leeze! Triantafilou feigns innocence of the lopsided 67-to-32, veto-proof majority Republicans hold in the state House, or the 26-7 unfair slam they’ve given themselves in the state Senate.

Ohio may have grown reliably red, but its statewide total vote has never been 78 percent red, as the Senate map would fool you into thinking, or 67 percent red as the House is. Voter registrations show Ohioans are more independent than they are affiliated with either of the two major political parties. In Portage County, independents represent 69 percent of the county’s 108,352 currently registered voters. And that’s precisely what Republicans are afraid of — those independent-thinking folks.

Republican leaders, including lame-duck Gov. Mike DeWine, know gerrymandering is a sour word to voters and a losing issue to promote. So they throw the word at those rightly fighting to end the rotten practice and hope it sticks. Desperate much?

The GOP’s willingness to distort history and turn the truth inside-out is exceeded only by its sinful disregard of the harmful consequences.

Bob Springer, Kent

+ posts

The Portager publishes a range of opinions from the community. To submit a letter to the editor, write to [email protected].

  1. I don’t often write a Letter to the Editor, but this time I was motivated. I read Bob Springer’s ‘letter to the Editor’ of August 22, 2024 where he states “how breathtakingly shameless Republicans have become.” My first response was “oh, do you mean like how Democrats have been for generations?” But then I realized that I was stooping down to his level of bigotry. Most Politicians seem to lie at one time or another. But not all are liars. Some are highly principled and got motivated to enter the distasteful world of politics out of a motivation to improve society. But, being human, over time they are tempted to lie or cheat for what they ‘justifyingly” call a greater good. It’s still a lie. I believe the best way to avoid that temptation is ‘Term Limits.”

    I also remember reading and confirming that 100% of our American Democrat Politicians of the 1863 to 1871 era voted against giving Black citizens of our Country the right to be citizens and to vote. The GOP voted 100% to support those rights for our Black Brothers and Sisters and finally approved the 13th Amendment to our USA Constitution in 1863 to do just that. In 1870 the GOP majority got approval for the 15th Amendment also, which gave the Right to Vote for all races. Things didn’t improve much until they finally approved the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960s. Yeaaa! So, since I came from a Union family of Construction people, when I first voted I voted with the Democrats. Then I saw the good results that Ronald Reagan had during his years as President. I also noticed a lot I didn’t like.

    Reagan nor the other Politicians were sinless, but most of them tried to do the right thing, both GOP and Democrats. Besides, they wanted to be re-elected. So many significant changes to American Laws were made because the GOP and the Democrats worked together, resulting in the 1964 and 68 Fair Housing Acts. We all should feel a little sense of pride in that, for our Society of that day did some really good things. Our American Society still attracts people from all over the World, and many with conflicting opinions, and these are mostly good reasons.

    So Mr. Springer, let’s work together and drop the assaults, please.

    Your neighbor in Brady Lake, Ohio
    Doug McGee

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *