Defiant Republican backed at hearing

Rep. Jim Jordan, (R., Ohio) ASSOCIATED PRESS Enlarge

LIMA, Ohio -- A hearing on congressional redistricting Tuesday turned into a "love fest" for U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, as one lawmaker put it, as witnesses urged lawmakers not to use the process as a bully club against the congressman.

"Any redistricting that might in any way punitively change Congressman Jordan's district would be a slap in the face of anyone standing on integrity," Michael Wolfe, of Richwood, Ohio, said.

Mr. Wolfe testified in Lima, part of Mr. Jordan's 4th District, which news reports have said could be endangered because the third-term congressman rebuffed the call of House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) for GOP support for an agreement to raise the federal debt ceiling and address the budget deficit.

The conservative Mr. Jordan cast one of two votes, out of 13 Ohio Republicans, against a deal that President Obama argued was necessary to ensure the nation would not default on its financial obligations. The second "no" was from Rep. Mike Turner of Centerville in suburban Dayton.

Ohio must surrender two of its 18 congressional districts because of its sluggish population growth over the last decade. Special Ohio Senate and House committees have been holding hearings across the state on how the maps should be redrawn.

Because Republicans control the process, at least one of the two districts to disappear is expected to belong to a Democrat, most likely Rep. Dennis Kucinich, of Cleveland.

There's some doubt, however, as to whether the Republican majority at the Statehouse can erase a second Democratic-held district in northern Ohio without watering down the Republican base of neighboring districts in the process. The question has become which Republican-held district might be sacrificed, and Mr. Jordan's perceived disloyalty to the House speaker may have moved him to the head of the list.

The largely rural, agricultural, conservative, and strongly Republican-leaning 4th District encompasses all or part of 11 counties. It stretches as far north as Hancock County and south to Champaign County and includes the cities of Findlay, Lima, Marion, and Mansfield. Mr. Jordan lives in Urbana, near the southern tip of the district.

"Why you would stab a fellow Republican in the back like this -- not just a Republican but a Republican that acted like one and is standing for what the party stands for, standing for the Constitution, and doing what he thinks is right and what he campaigned on?" asked Daniel Griffith of Caledonia in Marion County.

"We elected him to do exactly what he did," he said.

But the issue is much bigger than just one congressman, said Jim Slagle, manager of the Ohio Campaign for Accountable Redistricting. The coalition of voting and government watchdog groups is hosting a contest for those who draw the fairest districts.

"I think we all agree that the 4th Congressional District ought not to be determined on whether Congressman Jordan or Congressman Boehner see eye to eye on a debt-reduction deal," he said. "Frankly, people don't have confidence in this process because we have 200 years of history of this process being done in a partisan way to gain political advantage for a party."

Mr. Jordan did not attend Tuesday's hearing, but some of his congressional staff did. The hearing was the only one covering all of northwest Ohio.

Mr. Jordan's district must change to pick up additional people to meet the new map's population goals. Both state Rep. Matt Huffman (R., Lima) and Sen. Keith Faber (R., Celina), Jordan constituents and chairmen of their respective redistricting committees, downplayed reports that Mr. Jordan is being targeted.

"The whole concept of punishing Jim Jordan is both irresponsible and impractical," Mr. Faber said. "You could not divide Jim's district and put him in another district with another Republican in a way that Jim still wouldn't be electable and more likely than not to win."

Contact Jim Provance at: jprovance@theblade.com or 614-221-0496.