Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and discussed the AFL-CIO’s endorsements for Ohio’s first of two planned Primary Elections
Due to the Ohio Supreme Court repeatedly rejecting gerrymandered voting maps as unconstitutional, the state will need a second primary for State Representatives and State Senate seats.
For the May 3 Democratic Primary Election, the AFL-CIO endorsed U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Youngstown) for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Rob Portman, who will retire at the end of the year. Ryan currently represents the 13th Congressional District. Burga called the Republican race for the seat a clown show. It will likely be Ryan who will face the Republican winner on the November General Election ballot, he added.
The AFL-CIO also endorsed U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown (D-Cleveland), who currently serves Ohio’s 11th Congressional District.
Burga then provided a brief history on the Ohio Supreme Court’s rejection of five maps as unconstitutional due to gerrymandering. In April, the U.S. District Court of Southern Ohio granted the Ohio Redistricting Commission more time to draw up new maps. However, if those maps are rejected, the third map that was ruled unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court will then become the accepted map, he explained. Sadly, the Ohio Redistricting Commission has no incentive to create fair maps as required by Ohio’s State Constitution, he added.
Listen to the entire episode to learn more about these topics.