Partisanship, Issue Salience, and Support for Redistricting Reform in Ohio

In July of 2024, signatures for placing an anti-gerrymandering initiative on the November ballot were certified by the Ohio Secretary of State. The proposed initiative would have replaced a bipartisan redistricting commission with a citizens’ redistricting commission. Though the initiative ultimately failed, polls leading up to the general election showed Ohioans strongly supported redistricting reform. Using a survey of likely voters in Ohio, the research presented here identifies the factors that explain support for redistricting reform. While there is a strong body of research on redistricting, this research is unique because the survey data come from likely voters during an actual redistricting campaign. The findings show that identifying threats to democracy as the most important election issue, awareness of the redistricting issue, identification with the Democratic Party, and liberal ideology are all positively associated with support for redistricting reform. The findings demonstrate how voters are influenced by partisanship on salient issues and how issue awareness interacts with partisanship to determine support for redistricting. This article concludes with a discussion of the context of the ballot initiative in Ohio.