They Know They Suck; That’s Why They Cheat

"Who Matters" by Nancy Ohanian

-by Jerrad Christian

Time and again, voters have made their voices clear. We voted to protect abortion rights and to legalize cannabis. We’ve shown support for funding public schools and investing in working families. But none of that matters to the people who ‘represent’ us in Ohio. Instead of honoring the will of the people, Ohio’s Republican lawmakers do everything they can to override it.

They’re not popular. Their policies are extreme, and their priorities are out of step with the people they claim to represent. When voters speak— whether it’s on abortion, legal weed, or fair school funding— they don’t listen.

They’re introducing a total abortion ban, including IVF. That’s easy to do in Ohio, where gerrymandering has insulated them from political consequences. Voters passed a ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana, and the legislature immediately moved to gut it. Equity provisions, gone. Revenue promises, rewritten. They’re handing six hundred million dollars—stolen from people who may not even know it’s theirs— to the billionaire owners of a football team, while kids in rural Ohio drink from rusted-out pipes and teachers buy their own crayons.

None of these decisions reflect what Ohioans actually want. They reflect what Ohio’s Republican supermajority can get away with. They have no interest— in principle or policy— in representing constituents. They only seek to keep power in the hands of those who already have it.

Our maps are gerrymandered beyond reason. The last round was ruled unconstitutional over and over again. Thankfully, the Ohio Supreme Court forced them back to the drawing board each time— barely. But now that party labels appear on Supreme Court ballots, we’ve lost two of the four justices who held the line. One other was termed out. Now, we’ve got a majority of justices so eager to please their party and their donors they’ll twist the meaning of words if it keeps the money flowing. “Boneless” was just the start. Next time they’ll say “public” doesn’t mean “you.”

The people drawing the maps are the ones running for office. They’re choosing their voters instead of the other way around.

The last Speaker of the Ohio House is sitting in prison for the kind of bribery that rots democracy from the inside out. Instead of shutting down the loopholes that powered the Householder scandal, they’re embedding them in the budget—so pay-to-play becomes a line item, instead a scandal. Not one law has been passed to keep it from happening again.

Though Ohio votes about 45% Democratic, Democrats hold less than 35% of the House seats and only 27% of the Senate. If the districts were drawn honestly, Republicans wouldn’t hold a supermajority. They might not hold a majority at all. That’s why they fight so hard to keep control of redistricting. That’s why they override the governor when he tries to moderate them. That’s why they treat public votes like suggestions.

They act like they’re untouchable because, for now, they are. But it’s not because they’re strong— it’s because they’ve built a system designed to keep better people out.

We’re not going to change that by asking nicely. We have to dismantle the systems that protect their extremist minority rule. That means fighting for fair maps and constantly exposing the gap between what voters want and what this legislature does. And it means refusing to let them rewrite our laws from behind a wall they built themselves.

They’re afraid of democracy because it doesn’t just challenge their power— it humiliates them. It shows the world what they’ve always been: frauds propped up by rigged maps, hiding behind big money and broken systems. When this ends— and it will— they won’t be remembered as leaders. They’ll be remembered as parasites who drained the state dry and ran from the people they were supposed to serve.

Update:

This morning, Punch Bowl reported that Ohio Republicans are sitting around trying to figure out how gerrymander the state’s congressional map to make it even less fair, less representative and less in line with what the voters have said they want. “How aggressive will Ohio Republicans get when drawing new lines for the state’s 15 congressional districts ahead of the midterms?, asked Ally Mutnick and Max Cohen. They can aim for a 12 seat GOP majority or a 13 seat grand slam, instead of “just” 10 seats.

Jerrad Christian added that “They’re not even hiding it. They’re literally sitting around a table, asking each other how ridiculous they get to be. This is what a dying party does when it knows the voters aren’t with them. They pay no political price so they never adapt or reflect because they desire power at any cost to the people. They just cheat harder and dare us to do something. Ohio Republicans already ignore the will of the people every chance they get. The court tossed their bullshit a few times; so they stacked the court. And now they’re getting ready to carve the state up so they can lock in power they haven’t earned and don't deserve. It's straight-up voter fraud— but with spreadsheets and sharpies instead of fake ballots. And the only way we beat it is by making damn sure people see it. Every voter. Every district. Loud and clear.”