Ohio Gov. John Kasich has joined the growing movement requesting the Supreme Court to rule against unfair gerrymandering in Gill v. Whitford, a case regarding state-level legislative districts in Wisconsin.
“As I’ve continued to serve in public office and watched our political divide deepen, I’ve grown increasingly concerned with how primaries are pushing candidates to the extreme right and extreme left, which is creating more polarization and division,” Kasich said in a statement. “The Court has a unique opportunity in this case to support fair, common sense standards for how districts are drawn and put legislators in a better position to work together to effectively govern and get results.”
Kasich is rumored to be considering a bid in 2020 for the White House, though publicly he denies having any plans. Kasich ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination in 2016, winning only his home state of Ohio.
Kasich joins political leaders including former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., in urging the Supreme Court to overturn the legislative districts because Wisconsin voters challenged the legislative map as excessively partisan and unconstitutional.
“Americans do not like gerrymandering,” Sens. McCain and Whitehouse said in a statement. “They see its mischief, and absent a legal remedy, their sense of powerlessness and discouragement has increased, deepening the crisis of confidence in our democracy. We share this perspective. From our vantage point, we see wasted votes and silenced voices. We see hidden power. And we see a correctable problem.”
In 2011, Wisconsin implemented redistricting, which Wisconsin voters challenged in federal court in 2015. A lower court ruled the map does not abide by the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause and the plaintiff’s First Amendment freedom of association. The Supreme Court will examine an appeal of that ruling in the fall of 2017.
Gill v. Whitford allows the Court to examine a previous gerrymandering case from 2004, Vieth v. Jubelirer. This case admitted constitutional problems existed from partisan gerrymanders, but the Court did not intercede.
“The increase in partisan gerrymandering following Vieth, fueled by dark money contributions and advanced technology, distorts our representative democracy and pollutes Americans’ faith in their political institutions,” McCain and Whitehouse added. “As Republicans and Democrats battle each other to control redistricting, the real losers are the American people.”
