Rotunda Rumblings
No map, no problem: Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman on Wednesday defended Republicans’ delay in proposing a congressional redistricting plan, saying that the public should first weigh in on what changes should be made. But as Jeremy Pelzer reports, the Lima Republican also said that it wouldn’t be worth sharing a draft map with the public before elected officials negotiate a deal in private. Huffman said “it’s possible” a GOP map will be unveiled this month, as the Ohio Redistricting Commission takes the lead on redrawing the state’s 15 U.S. House districts. But it’s more likely that Republicans will unilaterally pass a new map in November, when constitutional requirements of bipartisanship fall away.
Override watch: Ohio Republicans are moving ahead with overriding Gov. Mike DeWine’s property-tax vetoes, less than a day after his work group recommended scaling their ideas back. The Senate voted 21–11 to eliminate emergency, substitute and replacement levies, saying they are confusing to voters. Anna Staver reports House leadership says two more overrides are expected by the end of October.
Read more Ohio politics stories
Federal shutdown 2025: How Cleveland agencies are affected by funding impasse
Top Ohio Democrat breaks with DeWine on idea of Iowa-style redistricting plan
Ohio Senate overrides DeWine veto, eliminates 3 property tax levies GOP says confuse voters
Nursing a loss: Cleveland State University has eliminated 22 academic programs, from the nursing doctorate to a couple MBA programs. Additionally, admissions to several programs are suspended, including Spanish, French and Arabic. It’s reopening admissions to four programs. Laura Hancock reports that other schools, including Ohio University and the University of Toledo, are eliminating programs due to Senate Bill 1, the new, controversial higher education law. But CSU began reviewing programs in 2023.
Shutdown wrapup: The federal government shut down just after 12 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1, as lawmakers failed to reach a funding agreement, with Ohio’s Republican and Democratic congressional delegation blaming the other party for the impasse that will disrupt services for millions of Americans, Sabrina Eaton reports. While workers at NASA Glenn were furloughed, those at Cleveland’s Defense Finance and Accounting Service were still on the job because their funding source was secure, she writes in a separate story about the closure’s Cleveland effects.
Is this heaven? No, it’s Iowa: DeWine has been getting some grief for retreating on a promise last year that if voters rejected a redistricting reform ballot measure, he would push for Ohio to adopt Iowa’s redistricting system. But as Pelzer reports, Ohio Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio says Iowa’s system – under which state lawmakers approve maps drawn by the legislature’s nonpartisan research arm, or the Iowa Supreme Court creates them – wouldn’t work in Ohio anyway. “We don’t have that in our culture to require us to sit at the table and stay there,” the Lakewood Democrat says.
Finding solutions: A lack of access to affordable childcare is costing Ohio an estimated $5.4 billion in opportunity costs of less workforce participation and productivity, prompting leaders across various sectors to look for creative solutions, Mary Frances McGowan reports. Realizing that counties and local governments need to do more, the National Association of Counties identified several counties across the country, including Cuyahoga, in May to participate in the organization’s first-ever “Childcare Supply Network.”
Pot protest: Seven Ohio marijuana companies have filed suit against the state’s product and advertising rules, claiming they’re unlawfully stricter than what voters approved. As Haley BeMiller of the Columbus Dispatch reports, Cleveland-based Ancient Roots, Akron-based Fire Rock and five other businesses claim in the lawsuit that Ohio regulators are enforcing outdated guidance and are creating unnecessary hurdles and uncertainty. In one example, the state told one of the companies that its ads couldn’t include the phrase “Merry Christmas” because holidays are geared toward children.
Jockeying for position: A fracking company has asked for state permission to drill and extract oil and gas from 1,460 acres of Jockey Hollow Wildlife Area in Belmont County. As Jake Zuckerman of Signal Ohio reports, the operation – if approved – would be one of the biggest on state-preserved lands since they were effectively opened to fracking in 2023. The request by the company, whose name is kept anonymous, kicks off a public comment period, after which the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission will decide whether to approve it.
Ex-candidate arrested: Emily Ciccone, a 2024 Ohio House candidate who’s currently running for Austintown Township trustee, is claiming self-defense after she was arrested last month for attacking her husband. As Dan Pompili of the Youngstown Vindicator reports, police were told that Ciccone, a Republican who lost to Democratic state Rep. Lauren McNally last year, threw a coffee mug and vacuum cleaner at her husband and threatened to kill him and their children. Ciccone was released on a $3,500 bond after pleading not guilty to a first-degree misdemeanor in Austintown Court; she stated in a court motion that her husband hit her that night and in the past.
Full Disclosure
Five things we learned from the May 15, 2025 ethics disclosure form filed by state Rep. Desiree Tims, a Dayton Democrat, about her 2024 finances:
1. Tims, a freshman lawmaker, made more than $100,000 last year as president and CEO of Innovation Ohio, a left-leaning think tank. She also received somewhere between $1,000 and $9,999 from Ohio State University, where she is a lecturer for the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
2. She was director of Battleground Research, a Columbus-based firm that collects information on political candidates and their opponents.
3. At some point last year, Tims owed more than $1,000 to American Express, Capital One, Volkswagen Financial Services, Chase, and Edfinancial Services, a student-loan servicer.
4. She serves on the boards of the Dayton-based African American Community Fund and Red, Wine and Blue, a Democratic advocacy group that focuses on engaging suburban women in politics.
5. Her investments worth more than $1,000 included exchange-traded funds in the S&P 500 and unspecified international company stocks, as well as mutual funds via Vanguard, Robinhood, and Acorns, a micro-investing company.
On the Move
Amy Acton, a Democratic candidate for governor, has been endorsed by ex-state Rep. John Patterson of Ashtabula County, the co-author of the Cupp-Patterson school funding plan.
Ashley Bryant Bailey of Cincinnati was sworn in Wednesday the next state representative for House District 26 in Hamilton County. Bailey, who fills a vacancy created when ex-state Rep. Sedrick Denson resigned from his House seat, is a senior advisor for Higher Heights for America, a political action committee that supports progressive Black women political candidates.
Adam Schwiebert is the new managing director of policy for the County Commissioners Association of Ohio. He succeeds Kyle Petty, who is launching a government relations firm but will continue as contract lobbyist for the association.
Birthdays
Dillon Barto, legislative aide to state Rep. Roy Klopfenstein
Ex-state Sen. Vernon Sykes
Straight from the Source
“I rise conflicted, as I do many times when you guys do stuff.”
– State Sen. Catherine Ingram, a Cincinnati Democrat, speaking Tuesday about changes that Ohio Senate Republicans made to a bipartisan bill allowing schools to keep overdose reversal drugs on site. The Senate amendment would expand religious release time for public school students.