Redistricting Watch: Governator Goes to Ohio

The New York Times reports this morning that CA Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger will be taking some time off from campaigning for his own redistricting measure in California in order to lend support to a similar effort in Ohio. Schwarzenegger becomes the first prominent Republican to endorse the Ohio plan.

I have issues with the Ohio plan as it stands, and I think it's important to remember that redistricting plans are not all created equal. Redistricting reform is incredibly necessary and in the abstract a great thing - but the devil's in the details, and the details of Ohio's plan are rather worrisome (as I note more fully in the post linked above).

You don't have to be a partisan Republican (I'm certainly not) to have concerns about the Ohio plan. It would be neither independent nor fair, and is almost definitely not the best way to go. While I strongly support the efforts in Florida, and half-heartedly accept the CA plan as the best we're going to get right now, Ohio's current effort just doesn't cut the mustard.

Previous Redistricting Watch posts:
- "Schwarzenegger Calls on McCain" (10/11)
- "Broder's Right" (9/1)
- "WaPo on Prop 77" (8/21)
- "Prop 77 Back On" (8/12)
- "Updates from the States" (8/10)
- "Updates on Several Fronts" (7/28)
- "Cosponsors Update" (7/22)
- "How Exactly do you Gerrymander a Birthday Cake?" (7/20)
- "Happy Birthday Mr. Gerry" (7/19)
- "Federal Authority in Historical Perspective" (7/16)
- "Blue Dogs, on the Scent" (7/12)
- "Cosponsors Update" (7/1)
- "Links, News, and Views" (6/24)
- "Polarization & Collegiality" (6/24)
- "Centrist Action on Redistricting Reform" (6/23)