Ohio hits primary filing deadline with legislative maps still in question

Government/Politics

Ohio hits primary filing deadline with legislative maps still in question

爆料吃瓜 | By Andy Chow

Published February 2, 2022 at 4:12 PM EST

Ohio House and Ohio Senate district maps approved by Ohio Redistricting Commission in

Candidates for Ohio House and Ohio Senate were required to turn in their petitions by 4 p.m. on Wednesday without knowing what their legislative districts will ultimately look like.

The potential candidates for 99 Ohio House districts and half of Ohio's 33 Senate districts filed their paperwork with local boards of elections around the state.

But the Ohio Supreme Court is still deliberating on a challenge to the latest round of district maps approved by the Ohio Redistricting Commission -- which means candidates are filing for districts that may or may not exist in the coming days.

Ohio lawmakers adjust candidate filing requirements with district maps in limbo
— Andy Chow (@andy_chow)

Lawmakers passed a bipartisan bill to help address the problem. But it didn鈥檛 change the filing deadline. Speaker Bob Cupp (R-Lima) had said there was 鈥渘o backup plan鈥� if the Ohio Supreme Court hadn鈥檛 rolled on the maps yet.

If the district lines change, candidates will have the ability to amend their petitions but newcomers who did not file by the deadline will not be able to jump into a race.