The Ohio Redistricting Commission (ORC) unanimously voted to approve maps that redraw the state's congressional lines Friday morning.
Mahoning County will be divided into two districts: the 14th District, which will include Jackson, Milton, Berlin, Ellsworth, Canfield, and part of Austintown, and the rest of the county will be part of the 6th District. Trumbull is all in the 14th and Columbiana is all in the 6th.
The commission unanimously voted to approve the maps despite several testimonies from Ohioans urging members not to approve the updated map.
This comes as Texas and California are pursuing their own efforts to redraw their congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. President Donald Trump has pushed for more Republican-controlled states to revise their maps and add more winnable districts for his party.
Members of the public could be heard booing the commission, with some saying things like "Shame on you all," "You sold us out" and "How do you sleep?"
The Ohio General Assembly last passed a Congressional map in 2021 without Democratic support, after the Ohio Supreme Court struck it down as unconstitutional, the ORC adopted a new map effective through 2026.
One testimony from Mia Lewis, Associate Director of the organization Common Cause Ohio referenced the 2021 map.
"The Ohio Supreme Court struck down your rigged districts times. But hey ho, no worries. You plowed ahead, set on your course of ignoring the law, ignoring the court, ignoring the voters and demonstrating to the world what gerrymandering is and why politicians should not be involved in drawing district lines," Lewis said.
Ohio Secretary of State Candidate Allison Russo also weighed in.
"Once again, a failure to produce fair maps demonstrates that we must go back to the ballot to ensure people, not politicians, are in charge of drawing Ohio's maps, no matter which party controls state government in the future," Russo said.
Ohio Auditor Keith Faber also weighed in on the maps during while questioning a citizen during the meeting.
"I ran the numbers for this map, and I've run the numbers for a lot of other maps. This map across all 15 districts breaks down on an average of 55% of the concentration as Republican [and] 45% as Democrat," Auditor Faber said.
"Geography and political geography in Ohio mean that you're going to have some districts that are going to be Republican and some districts that are going to be Democrat. That is a fact. This concept that you're going to be able to draw districts within that range without gerrymandering is false. And if you're going to do that ... you never get to a statewide distribution of 55-45," he continued.
The maps will remain effective through 2031.