In one of the most consequential rulings of the current redistricting cycle, the Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down the General Assembly’s new state legislative maps, saying the plan violates the Ohio Constitution’s ban on partisan gerrymandering.
The justices, in a 4-3 decision, ordered the Ohio Redistricting Commission to start over and produce maps for the state House and Senate in accordance with the requirements laid out in the state Constitution.
The majority opinion found that, based on statewide voting history, the maps should hew closer to an expected 54 percent share for Republicans, rather than 70 percent expected in the maps that have now been overruled.
“[T]he commission is required to attempt to draw a plan in which the statewide proportion of Republican-leaning districts to Democratic-leaning districts closely corresponds to those percentages,” Justice Melody Stewart wrote for the majority, which included three Democratic justices and one Republican who broker with her party: Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor.
O’Connor, in her concurring opinion, highlighted the work done by independent redistricting commissions in other states. The Ohio Redistricting Commission is made up of six state lawmakers, four of whom are Democrats.
“Having now seen firsthand that the current Ohio Redistricting Commission — comprised of statewide elected officials and partisan legislators — is seemingly unwilling to put aside partisan concerns as directed by the people’s vote, Ohioans may opt to pursue further constitutional amendment to replace the current commission with a truly independent, nonpartisan commission that more effectively distances the redistricting process from partisan politics,” O’Connor wrote.
Under Ohio’s Constitution, maps approved along partisan lines are only in effect for four years, rather than the typical 10. The commission now needs to restart the process, with a new plan required within 10 days. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is also reviewing Ohio’s congressional map, which was similarly approved along partisan lines.
“It’s worth flagging that this is the first time a pure partisan effect provision has been enforced by a state supreme court,” Harvard law professor Nicholas Stephanopoulos wrote for the Election Law Blog. “The court’s analysis vindicates all the effort that has been poured into enacting these provisions at the state level (and proposing them at “the federal level).”
The lawsuit, brought by the League of Women Voters of Ohio, was among a number of suits challenging Ohio’s new maps.
Following a 2019 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, states are the final arbiters of partisan gerrymandering. When asked to rule on congressional district maps created by Republicans in North Carolina and Democrats in Maryland, a 5-4 majority determined the federal judicial system had no role to play.
“None of the proposed tests for evaluating partisan gerrymandering claims meets the need for a limited and precise standard that is judicially discernable and manageable," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion, from which all four Democratic justices dissented.
Therefore, opponents of partisan gerrymandering have turned to state courts. Ballotpedia is tracking approximately 50 lawsuits, some of which focus on process while others target state or congressional district maps.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a“ Steel Across America” event ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks on the Ellipse near the White House on Sept. 8, 2026 in Washington, D.C. President Trump welcomed 9/ 11 first responders to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’ s“ Steel Across America” event featuring a 16,900- pound, 21- foot steel beam recovered.
For Trump, even 9/11 is an opportunity
There was a reason organizers of the 9/11 ceremony in Manhattan told President Trump he could not speak at this year’s memorial service.
A good one, it turns out.
Because in a speech he gave on Tuesday in Washington, he did exactly what they were presumably worried about — he made it about himself.
According to The New York Times, Trump had wanted a speaking role at the service, but the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum, which oversees the site, said no, as they’ve maintained for the past decade-plus that the venue and event should be nonpartisan.
Trump has long used awful tragedies to either puff himself up, trash political opponents, or sell lies to the American people.
He blamed a deadly plane crash at Washington National Airport last year on diversity, equity and inclusion policies. He blamed Puerto Ricans for the devastation they endured after Hurricane Maria in 2017. He reportedly considered withholding disaster relief after the California wildfires based on the way affected regions voted. In an interview on Fox News meant to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, he used the occasion to slam former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi…with graves of the dead behind him.
And now, as we approach the 25th anniversary of what many New Yorkers consider the darkest day in modern history, Trump has done it again.
He told a rambling, nonsensical story — one he’s told before — about going to Ground Zero just after terrorists flew two commercial jets into the twin towers. In the story, which no one has been able to verify, despite multiple attempts, he says firefighters had to carry him out of One Liberty Plaza, also known as the U.S. Steel Building, because they thought it was about to collapse.
As CNN fact checker Daniel Dale notes, there’s no evidence Trump went into this building, especially at a time when NYPD and NYFD had locked down the area. There’s no evidence that building was collapsing — in fact, it was deemed structurally sound and reopened within two months of the attacks. There’s no evidence he was carried out of it by firefighters.
But the lie isn’t even the worst part. Pretend it was all true — why would the leader of our country, and a New Yorker, decide to make that tragic day about himself?
Because that’s who Donald Trump is. He’s a malignant narcissist.
He’s also, incidentally, a terrible and ineffectual president, who’s made ill-fated decisions that he has to keep defending, and there’s nothing he won’t do to make himself look and feel better.
Within the first two minutes of his speech, he was cravenly using 9/11 to justify and promote his dumb war in Iran — two events separated by 25 years and 6,000 miles.
“And I will tell you, we’re right now fighting because we have a certain nation that wanted a nuclear weapon, they were very close to getting it, and now they have no chance at getting it. They will never have a nuclear weapon. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. And they’ve been punished greatly. As you know, we’ve really taken it to them.”
As a New Yorker who lived through 9/11, still one of the worst days of my life, I’m utterly sickened by Trump’s crass, political, and self-promotional framing of that awful day.
And I’m relieved he won’t be given a platform to do it again on Friday’s anniversary in lower Manhattan.
Because for Trump, everything is his for the taking, and absolutely nothing is sacred.
S.E. Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.