Key election dates:
Dec. 30: Presidential and congressional candidates filing deadline for March 6 Ohio primary ballot.
Jan. 31: Early voting begins.
Feb. 6: Voter registration deadline to vote in the March 6 election.
March 6 (Super Tuesday): Ohio and 10 other states hold presidential primaries and caucuses. In Ohio, congressional, Senate, state legislature and county races are also on the ballot, as well as local issues and levies.
Newly revised Congressional districts for the first time consolidate Wright-Patterson Air Force base in a single district, but local advocates don’t believe that will result in a loss of influence in Washington, D.C.
“There will be two strong Congressional representatives supporting and representing Wright-Patterson Air Force Base,” said Phil Parker, president and chief executive of the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce.
Parker said House Speaker John Boehner, R-West Chester Twp., has called the base the area’s “No. 1 priority” and will remain an advocate as his 8th district expands to Clark County.
The base is in the new 10th district.
The map also pulls southwest Ohio’s 1st District closer, giving base advocates an additional member of Congress to work with, said Michael Gessell, vice president for federal government programs for the Dayton Development Coalition.
The 1st district, represented by Steve Chabot, now covers all of Warren County.
On Wednesday, the Ohio Legislature resolved a months-long dispute about the boundaries of the Congressional districts, which will be reduced to 16 from 18 due to the 2010 Census. The compromise scuttles a Democratic referendum effort to kill a similar map.
The new map puts all of Montgomery County into a single district.
“We believe the our county and our citizens are best served when represented by one member of Congress who represents the totality of our community,” said Montgomery County Commission President Debbie Lieberman, a Democrat.
One primary will save money
The compromise also eliminates the $15 million second primary in June — putting all races on the March 6 ballot. Local elections officials said a single primary is better for voters.
“From a financial standpoint, from a sanity standpoint, from a living through 2012 standpoint, we are all pretty pleased,” said Keir A. Holeman, director of the Warren County Board of Elections.
Congressional and presidential candidates must file or re-file petitions by Dec. 30. That two-week window creates a burden on candidates, said Tom McMasters, who had already filed to run as a Democrat in the 8th District but whose Huber Heights home is not in the redrawn district. Congress members are not required to live in their districts, only be residents of the state.
David Esrati of Dayton, who filed to run as a Democrat in the 10th District, said it makes no sense to require new filings but he anticipated “another hoop to jump through.”
Austria, Turner both say they can win
As with the now-scrapped map, the new 10th Congressional District will encompass areas now represented by U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, and U.S. Rep. Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek. The new district covers all of Montgomery and Greene counties and northern Fayette, but unlike the old map does not stretch east to Fairfield County.
Both men support the new map. Austria spokesman Tyler Grassmeyer said, “it looks very winnable” and “it has become clear to us the Republican voters in Montgomery County are eager to finally support a conservative candidate.”
Turner said the new lines permit “our Congressional representative to focus on the Miami Valley as opposed to being split between Dayton and Columbus as originally proposed.”
“Our area deserves a representative who is focused on the many and varied issues which confront our region,” Turner said.
While Austria loses some of his current base in the change, political analyst and former Dayton mayor Paul Leonard, said it will be a competitive race.
“This is going to be the best race in Ohio. It’s going to be a barnburner,” said Leonard, visiting professor of political science at Wright State University. “It is who is better organized, who is the better liked candidate on a personal basis and what kinds of differences they may have on the issues?”
How did Democrats vote for the new map?
Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern said the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee believes the new map gives Democrats the opportunity to win five Republican-leaning districts, including the 10th.
Democrats voted for a map that they don’t much like because they decided to spend their money trying to defeat Republican candidates rather than putting it toward another referendum campaign with no sure bet that they’d win, Redfern said.
A referendum petition drive costs $500,000 to $1 million when paid circulators are used, Redfern said. “Do we want to use those dollars for a referendum we could lose or use those dollars to defeat Republicans in the next cycle?” he said.
The legislation drawing the new maps also establishes a bipartisan commission to examine how congressional redistricting is done in Ohio.
Redfern believes the commission will spur a ballot issue next year that may result in a new map.
House Speaker Boehner supported the original map approved in September, but “respects the Legislature’s decision to act as it deems best,” said spokesman Cory Fritz. “Ultimately, the Legislature has produced a map that will serve the citizens of Ohio well.”
Staff writer Jessica Wehrman contributed to this report.
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