Ohio Redistricting Threatens Congressman

You're a good man, Sherrod Brown...but watch out for those Republicans.

U.S. Congressman Sherrod Brown (D) represents Ohio's 13th congressional district, of which Oberlin is a part. With the Buckeye State bound to lose one of its 19 districts when the 2000 census is completed in January, the GOP-controlled state legislature may target Brown's district as the one to go.

Legislative districts are drawn every 10 years by the State Apportionment Board, controlled by whichever party holds two of the three state-wide offices ‹ governor, auditor and secretary of state. Republicans currently dominate the board in Ohio, and are expected to redraw U.S. House of Representative districts that generally favor their own party.

Although Brown's district is not the only area to suffer from lack of population growth, he is widely believed to be the lawmaker most at risk. Political analysts often cite Brown's vocal sparring with Republicans to be one reason for their special focus on him.

Brown, the one-time "boy wonder" of Ohio politics who was elected to the state House at the tender age of 21, has made a name for himself in Congress as a fierce advocate of American labor and a protector of the environment. Last year, the Ohio Public Interest Research Group, an Oberlin campus staple, gave him a 93 percent approval rating for his voting record on environmental issues in the 105th Congress. He has also been vocal on health care issues, recently driving elderly constituents across the Canadian border to buy prescription drugs to prove a point about the high cost of medicine in the U.S.

Brown usually votes with his fellow Democrats, except where free trade is concerned. He has crusaded against NAFTA, and opposed other free trade agreements because they lacked what he considered adequate human rights protections.

If Brown loses his district next year, he will be forced to run in another district in order to retain a seat in the House. This could pit him against fellow Democrats like Ted Strickland and Dennis Kusinich.

"I plan to run for Congress again," Brown said in an interview with the Review Wednesday. "They can't redistrict Lorain County into Quebec."

Another course of action would be for Brown to run for state-wide office, as a U.S. senator or Ohio governor. A bid for governor would pit Brown against former rival and current Governor Bob Taft, who defeated Brown in 1990 for secretary of state, a post Brown held for eight years.

Although there has been much speculation about Brown's possible state-wide campaign in 2002, he has remained dedicated to his constituents in the 13th district. "Some people have said if the 13th district gets cut up into four parts, I'd run for governor. That's not totally out of the question, but I really want to represent Lorain County as a member of Congress," he said.

The looming specter of redistricting makes Brown's current bid for a fifth term in Congress especially important. Brown is expected to win an easy race against Republican opponent Rick Jeric and third-party challengers Mike Chmura (Libertarian) and David Kluter (Natural Law), but a dynamic campaign might portray Brown in the eyes of Republicans as a force to be reckoned with.

"Jeric has little name recognition, but Sherrod still has to run a strong, tight campaign because everyone's looking at 2002," said junior Katherine Blauvelt who interned in Brown's Cleveland office this summer. "This election is about showing how strong his base of support is. That might send a message to the people thinking of redistricting."

Oberlin students who have registered to vote in Ohio may affect not only the presidential election but the congressional map as well. "I would hate to lose him. I really want him to represent Oberlin," said Blauvelt.