But in spite of their vote to approve the maps, House Minority Leader Allison Russo and Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio were disappointed that Republicans didn’t offer greater concessions across the state. They wanted maps more likely to result in a Statehouse that aligns with Ohioan’s Republican-Democratic voting breakdown over the past 10 years.
But, the agreement did give Democrats a few wins. One of the biggest was in Montgomery County’s Senate District 6, which went from being considered a tossup district in 2022 (based on past party-line choices by the voters there) to a district that favors Democrats by about 8 points starting in 2024, according to the Redistricting Commission’s statistics.
Republican State Sen. Niraj Antani currently represents District 6. Antani, who chose not to comment for this story, was first elected to the 6th district in 2020 and is up for reelection November 2024.
Senate District 6 includes most of east and southeast Montgomery County — Miamisburg, Centerville, Kettering, Moraine, Oakwood, Riverside and Dayton — along with the Germantown area.
The redrawn map would remove the Republican-leaning city of Miamisburg and Germantown area (putting them in District 5 with New Lebanon, Brookville, Preble County and others), while adding the Democratic-leaning city of Trotwood and Jefferson Twp. to District 6.
Montgomery County GOP Chair and local state Rep. Phil Plummer, R-Dayton, said he expects Republicans to lose the seat in 2024, given the district’s new political lean.
“(Now) we have one and the Democrats have one, that’s fair and balanced,” Plummer said.
The Montgomery County Democrats expect the same result.
“We finally have a Senate District that should have always leaned Democratic, considering Montgomery County and the city of Dayton tend to lean that way,” said Mohamed Al-Hamdani, chairman of the county Democratic Party.
If the 6th Senate District turns blue in November, it would be the first time Montgomery County was represented by a Democratic state senator since 2010.
The new maps have little impact on 5th Senate District, currently represented by Sen. Steve Huffman, R-Tipp City, whose term ends in 2026. The district leans Republican by over 35 points.
Under current law, the new maps will be in place through 2030. However, there’s a campaign getting support from Democratic leaders to amend the constitution in November 2024, to create an independent citizen redistricting commission. If approved, that commission would be triggered to readdress the state’s legislative districts in 2025.
Ohio House of Representatives
On the House side of things, the new redistricting plan isn’t expected to shake up the county’s partisan representation, despite creating a few close districts. Of the five House districts that include Montgomery County, four are currently represented by Republicans. Based on voting history, that ratio would likely remain the same under the new maps, barring any upsets.
“Our county is pretty fair and balanced, I think,” said Montgomery County GOP Chairman and Rep. Phil Plummer, R-Dayton, to the Dayton Daily News. He noted that the new maps maintain a few competitive districts in the county, including his own 39th district (leans Republican by 7.1 points) and the 36th district represented by Andrea White, R-Kettering (leans Republican by 5.64 points).
Credit: Avery Kreemer
Credit: Avery Kreemer
Mohamed Al Hamdani, chairman of the Montgomery County Democratic Party, echoed Plummer on competitiveness.
“Locally, we’re glad to see that there are finally more competitive districts that represent the city and the county better,” Hamdani said, noting that the county has swung Democrat and Republican in recent presidential elections. “...This county is and has been a tossup county for a long time, and it deserves to have house seats that reflect that.”
The county’s other House districts Plummer described as “gimmes” for either side. Those districts include the 38th, represented by Willis Blackshear Jr., D-Dayton, which maintains its Democrat lean by 54.9 points; the 37th, represented by Tom Young, R-Washington Twp., which maintains its Republican lean by 15.9 points; and the 40th, represented by Rodney Creech, R-West Alexandria, which maintains its Republican lean by 49.4 points.
White, who will be seeking reelection in 2024 for her third term as representative of the 36th House District, sees the frequent changes to her district over the past few years as an opportunity to learn more about the region as a whole.
“All of the communities I have represented have helped to inform my ability to be an effective legislator for our region,” she said. “I don’t have control over who I represent, but I do have control over how I represent. I want to continue running hard for my current district as well as embrace the new one.”
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