When running for Ohio Secretary of State, there aren’t exactly a plethora of winning issues that one can run on.
Jun Husted has found one.
Redistricting.
Now, I won’t say I’m in favor of his plan to develop a non-partisan commission, but I will give him credit for introducing a simple, but politically astute idea that nails exactly what being Secretary of State is about.
And who is playing politics with the idea? Democrats, of course.
The Husted plan has the benefit of simplicity, a bipartisan, seven-member commission taking over the task of legislative reapportionment and congressional redistricting, the latter now handled by the state legislature and left untouched by Letson. Husted would include a competitiveness factor, but leave final decision-making up to the commission. Letson would set up a bipartisan panel of retired judges, but only as a means of keeping appeals out of the legal system, no doubt a recognition that Republicans control the Ohio Supreme Court.
To his credit, Husted is willing to keep working toward a ballot issue in November. He correctly concludes that the Democrats’ timing greatly harms the prospects for compromise. As it is, Democrats would do well to think again as Wednesday approaches. They’ve crafted a complicated plan, raising more questions than answers. By comparison, Husted has a simple concept — and ready now for the ballot.