The 1st Place  map created by John Hagner of Yellow Springs, Ohio 

Today, Fair District Ohio announced that they have officially submitted winners from their Fair Districts Mapping Competition to the Ohio Redistricting Commission for consideration. Each of these maps were evaluated by the Princeton Gerrymandering Project and garnered Bs — the highest grade awarded to any Ohio map so far. The Princeton project grades maps using the following criteria: geography, as measured by compactness and county splits; competitiveness; partisan fairness; and minority composition. 

Fair Districts Congressional Mapping Competition Winners:  

The congressional maps approved by the state legislature in 2011 divided communities and split counties unnecessarily. In 2018, Ohio voters overwhelmingly passed congressional redistricting reform which focused on keeping counties whole as much as possible.  

Congressional Map  Number of County Splits  
1st place map by John Hagner 14 county splits a total of 14 times 
2nd place map by Paul Nieves 12 county splits a total of 12 times 
3rd place map by Riley Jones  14 county splits a total of 15 times 
2012-2020 congressional maps  23 county splits a total of 32 times 

“Each of the winning maps has much to like and all are far superior to the existing Ohio congressional map. The winning maps make thoughtful and deliberate choices in establishing districts that are highly proportional while minimizing county and community splits,” said Dr. Chris Cusack, technical manager of the Fair Districts Mapping Competition. “Indeed, they serve as exemplars for the Ohio Redistricting Commission to match or surpass.” 

Districts identified as “competitive” fall within the 45-55% competitive range. Fair Districts Ohio identifies as “hypercompetitive” those where the difference between Republican and Democratic shares of the total vote is less than 3%. 

Congressional Map  Districts that lean Republican  Districts that lean Democratic  District falls within the 45-55% competitive range 
1st place map by John Hagner 6 3 6 
2nd place map by Paul Nieves 6 4 5 
3rd place map by Riley Jones  6 3 6 
2012-2020 congressional maps  12 3 1 
Congressional Map  Districts that lean Republican  Districts that lean Democratic  District falls within the hypercompetitive range 
1st place map by John Hagner 8 6 1 
2nd place map by Paul Nieves 7 7 1 
3rd place map by Riley Jones  7 5 3 
2012-2020 congressional maps  12 4 0 

“Each of the winners provided clear overviews explaining the choices that they made in the creation of the congressional maps. The upcoming webinars are an opportunity to take a deeper dive and explore how these maps can be improved,” said Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio. “The Ohio Redistricting Commission is now tasked with drawing congressional maps. We call for the Commission to review and discuss any proposed voting districts in detail in a similar fashion.”  

Fair Districts Ohio has two webinars to dig deeper into the map-making process and give our competition winners a chance to explain their choices, receive feedback, and adapt their maps. Please join us for what we’re sure will be fascinating discussions, as follows: 

  • Fair Districts Congressional Map Winners: Our Maps & Choices, Weds, 10/13, Noon. Register HERE. Join competition winners as they discuss their congressional maps and talk us through the choices and tradeoffs they made when drawing lines. Come with your questions and comments about the winning maps. This webinar is only 60 minutes. 
  • Fair Districts Congressional Map Winners: Updates Based on Public Input, Weds, 10/20, Noon. Register HERE. Join competition winners as they show us updated congressional maps based on public comment and input from our 10/13 webinar. This webinar is only 60 minutes. 
  • Submit feedback about the maps HERE. 

For more information about the competition, rules, and mapping criteria, click here.