Franklin County will be split into two congressional districts — one urban and one mostly rural — under a new map approved by Ohio lawmakers last week.
Driving the news: Gov. Mike DeWine signed the map into law on Friday, though one election rights lawyer has already announced plans to challenge the new district shapes in court.
- The map separates Ohio's 11.7 million residents into 15 equally-populated districts.
Zoom in: Should the map withstand legal scrutiny, Columbus area residents would be split into two distinctly different districts. Here's a closer look at them:
3rd District: The GOP-drawn map includes just two Democratic-leaning districts across the state, and this is one of them.
- Located mostly within the I-270 outerbelt, it includes much of central and northern Columbus along with the communities of Worthington, Upper Arlington, Bexley, Whitehall, Gahanna, Reynoldsburg and others.
- The district would lean heavily blue, with the minority population making up close to half of all residents.
15th District: The rest of Franklin County would be located in this Republican-leaning district.
- This includes southern Columbus and German Village, along with the communities of Dublin, Hilliard, Westerville, New Albany, Grove City, Groveport, Canal Winchester and Obetz.
- Pairing these towns with all or parts of six rural counties in southwest Ohio gives the district a Republican tilt, though it is still close enough to be considered a "competitive" district.
- White constituents would make up more than 75% of its population.
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