Democratic News

Ohio Redistricting Commission member and House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron) today issued a statement as several groups, including the ACLU of Ohio, League of Women Voters of Ohio, the Ohio Chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, and others filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state legislative district maps recently passed by the Commission’s five Republican members. Leader Sykes voted against the plan Sept. 15. 

State Rep. Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo) issued a statement Wednesday as the House concurred to Senate changes on House Bill 92, which includes added emergency language to comply with voter-initiated requirements for public submission of congressional maps via an online portal. Rep. Hicks-Hudson introduced sweeping legislation in May, 2021 that would have gone further to support public submission and require more transparency in the redistricting process. The legislature has until Sept. 30 to adopt congressional maps.

State Rep. Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo) today called on House Republican leaders, including Speaker Robert Cupp (R-Lima), to schedule hearings on House Bill 313, which has sat idle in the House Government Oversight Committee since its introduction in May, 2021. The Hicks-Hudson-sponsored bill would strengthen transparency requirements in the redistricting process and help Ohio fulfill its duties under the reforms voters overwhelmingly passed in 2015 and 2018.

State Reps. Juanita Brent (D-Cleveland) and Casey Weinstein (D-Hudson) introduced a concurrent resolution this week to urge Congress to recognize the Kol Israel Foundation Holocaust Memorial as a National Memorial. The memorial is located in Zion Memorial Park in Bedford Heights, OH and is believed to be the first memorial constructed in the United States dedicated to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. 

Ohio Redistricting Commission member and House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron) today issued a statement as Republican Commission members voted to pass a short-term, partisan state legislative district map after failing to address a number of concerns raised by Democrats and the public about the constitutionality of the Republican plan. The map will last four years.

Ohio Legislative Black Caucus (OLBC) President Rep. Thomas West (D-Canton) today issued the following statement after the Ohio Redistricting Commission approved on party lines state legislative maps proposed late last evening by Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima):

Ohio Redistricting Commission Co-Chair Sen. Vernon Sykes (D-Akron) and House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron) issued a joint statement today as the Democratic lawmakers proposed district line changes that would bring the Commission’s state legislative district maps closer to Ohio’s constitutional requirement for representational fairness. The Democratic Commission members also reiterated their commitment to working together with the Commission’s five Republican members on a bipartisan, 10-year plan by the Sept. 15 deadline. 

COLUMBUS— Ohio House Democrats issued a statement on the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. 

COLUMBUS— Reps. Jeffrey A. Crossman (D-Parma) and Lisa Sobecki (D-Toledo) today announced that they will soon introduce legislation to address the hacking in the state’s unemployment system that has compromised personal information and resulted in untold thousands of dollars stolen from deserving recipients. The legislation would urge Gov. DeWine to activate the Ohio Cyber Reserve to investigate reported hacking in the state’s unemployment compensation network. Thus far, the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services (ODJFS) has refused to acknowledge a hack and has instead referred to those incidents as “account takeovers.”

– Rep. Daniel P. Troy (D-Willowick) today introduced a resolution honoring and recognizing the victims of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. Between 1961 and 1971, the United States Armed Forces utilized Agent Orange to destroy enemy crops and vegetation as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand. In just ten years, more than 20 million gallons of Agent Orange were sprayed, exposing some 2.6 million American soldiers to dangerous chemicals.