UNWANTED SOLUTION  Why Ohio will have 2 primaries The Dispatch public affairs team talks politics and tackles state and federal government issues in the Buckeye Forum podcast. · By · Jim Siegel  The Columbus Dispatch Sunday November 20, 2011 5:48 AM If you’re asking why Ohio is poised to spend an extra $15 million to hold two primary elections in 2012 and faces the possibility of having a federal judge draw new congressional districts, keep something in mind: While the legislature may look like a model of efficiency compared with Congress, passing legislation at a rate not seen in years, nearly everything it has done this session was accomplished without the need for bipartisan cooperation. But fixing the situation — passing a compromise map that Democrats won’t try to overturn at the ballot, and merging the primaries into a single date — requires majority Republicans and minority Democrats to find common ground. “The voters of Ohio are watching in disbelief,” said Rep. Ted Celeste, D-Grandview Heights. “We say we have a huge budget problem and that we need to cut and consolidate. And yet we are proposing the expenditure of $15 million for an unnecessary exercise. The legislature has become dysfunctional.” So how did we get to this point? Efforts in 2010 led by then-Sen. Jon Husted to craft a bipartisan process for drawing congressional districts failed to muster support. When Republicans rode a national landslide and took over the governor’s office and Statehouse, they took control of the mapping process. They also moved a lot of bills, including House Bill 194, an overhaul of Ohio election laws signed in July. It moved the primary from March to May, avoiding potential filing-deadline problems related to an upcoming new congressional map. But Democrats, upset with unrelated provisions in the bill, started a referendum process that appears nearly certain to make the ballot. Then, on Sept. 1, House Speaker William Batchelder, R-Medina, and House Minority Leader Armond Budish, D-Beachwood, announced an agreement to pass another bill, House Bill 318, to move the primary to May. Democratic votes were needed so the bill could get a two-thirds majority and take effect immediately. The issue seemed settled, but 12 days later, Budish called off the deal, citing an objection to how quickly Republicans were moving a new congressional map. The primary bill passed the House on Sept. 15, but without an emergency clause to let it take effect immediately. Six days later, the legislature approved a new congressional map reducing the number of districts from 18 to 16 because of the state’s slow population growth. Democrats were sharply critical, arguing that the map was gerrymandered to give Republicans a solid chance to win 12 of the 16 districts. They threatened a referendum. On Oct. 14, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that, despite GOP efforts to block a referendum by adding a budget appropriation, the redistricting bill could be subject to a referendum. New congressional districts will not exist for the 2012 elections if Democrats gather 231,000 signatures to put it on the ballot, likely leaving it to a judge. That left GOP leaders searching for other options. The new solution? On Oct. 20, the Senate approved an altered version of House Bill 318, keeping state, local and U.S. Senate primary races in March while moving presidential and congressional primaries to June 12. Batchelder repeatedly has criticized the Senate for not moving faster on the bill, which, he said, could have avoided a dual primary. Republicans said they wanted to move only the races that were affected by the map referendum (presidential candidates must collect signatures per congressional district to make the ballot). But nobody liked the idea of two primaries. That led House Republicans to try to hammer out a compromise map with members of the Legislative Black Caucus, to pass it as an emergency and eliminate the possibility of a referendum. Thinking they had an agreement, Republicans on Nov. 3 created a bill that both revised the map and merged the primaries in March. But House Democrats did not provide the needed votes. Some black Democrats said they wouldn’t go against party leaders, who said the map was still bad. Rep. Sandra Williams, president of the Black Caucus, told The Plain Dealer that party leaders told members that if they voted for the map, they could face primary opponents. Talks continued, and Republicans set a deadline of last Wednesday to work out a deal. But the deadline passed without action. With the filing deadline for the March primary three weeks away, GOP leaders say it is now too late to shift the primaries, though Democrats, including Rep. John Patrick Carney of Columbus, disagree and have proposed moving all primaries to June. Now what? There is still time to work out a deal on a congressional map. A group of nonprofit organizations says it will push for a ballot issue to change the map-drawing process. Rep. Mike Duffey, R-Worthington, also is working on the issue, and Celeste said he is crafting a constitutional amendment that combines parts of last year’s redistricting proposals. “Rather than asking voters to say no to maps, let’s give them a chance to say yes to a new and fairer process,” Celeste said.