It seems mathematical. According to the proposed redistricting plan, Republican Mike Turner’s 3rd Congressional District is merging with Republican Steve Austria’s 7th District and the new District will be Ohio’s 10th Congressional District. The current 10th District — Cuyahoga County — is represented by Dennis Kucinich.

It looks like the new 10th district will have more Republican voters from Austria’s old 7th district than Republicans from Turner’s old 3rd District, so, it appears that Austria will have the advantage in the coming primary battle between the two Republicans.

The proposed new map puts more more Montgomery County Democrats into John Boehner's 8th District. This makes it possible to put even more Republicans in the new 10th District. I'm thinking Austria has an advantage because I'm guessing the number of Republicans in the new 10th District in Montgomery County, that currently are in Turner's 3rd District, must be a smaller number than the combined number of Republicans currently in Austria's 7th District -- in Green, Fayette, Pickaway and Fairfield Counties.

This is how the districts currently look. In the proposed new map, Turner loses the Republicans in Highland, Clinton, and Warren Counties. Austria loses the Republicans in Perry and Clark Counties.

This is the proposed new map -- most of the districts are really wildly shaped, bizarre. It is so shamelessly gerrymandered as to be funny. The logic of this design was to produce a map that would send as many Republicans to Washington as possible and the new map should produce 12 Republican congressman and 4 Democratic congressman. Our democracy allows politicians to choose voters, rather than vice versa. Republicans are counting on controlling 75% of Ohio's congressional caucus, regardless that the state votes only about 55% Republican, or less, in congressional contests.

The DDN reports that, because of redistricting, two local Republican congressmen — Mike Turner and Steve Austria — will be required to duke it out in a primary contest to determine who will be the Republican candidate for a newly formed district.

A Republican slug fest might open the door for a Democratic candidate.

A supposed smart political strategy makes Democrats, again and again, choose a candidate that is Tweedledee to the Republicans’ Tweedledum. But the big problem any Democratic candidate must solve, in order to win, is somehow to get out the vote. Democrats need to be a little more daring than to choose a barely progressive Democrat to oppose the winner of the Turner / Austria contest.

I’d like to see the Democrats nominate someone, with credibility, who can articulate a liberal vision that will inspire and motivate citizens who otherwise may not even bother to vote. Rather than nominating a Democrat that is a shade more liberal than Turner or Austria, I’d like to see someone like Dennis Kucinich run.

The new 3rd District may be in luck. It looks like Kucinich will be looking for a job. According to The Hill,

The new lines would force Kucinich to run in an uphill primary against either African-American Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) in a majority-black district, or against longtime incumbent Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio). But Kucinich has been considering another option: moving to Washington state, which is gaining a seat. Washington will release its draft redistricting maps later on Tuesday.

I wonder if Kucinich would consider moving to Dayton, instead?

Note: According to Wikipedia,

Helen Keller, the first deafblind recipient of a Bachelor of Arts degree and a prolific writer and left-wing activist, said this of democracy in the US: “Our democracy is but a name. We vote? What does that mean? It means that we choose between two bodies of real, though not avowed, autocrats. We choose between Tweedledum and Tweedledee.“

Interesting post at the Red State Ohio web-site “The sorry state of the Ohio Republican Party” paints John Husted as a conniving Machiavellian who is undermining potential rivals Josh Mandel and Mary Taylor.

The post says, “The Ohio Republican Situation is a mess of egos and chess players. The wizard behind the curtain is current Secretary of State John Husted.” It says “Husted has spent the last several years building up an empire of supporters within the legislature and among donors,” with the purpose of putting him in line to be elected Governor of Ohio in 2018 and in order to assure his nomination, he is undermining his potential rivals, Josh Mandel and Mary Taylor.

The post suggests that Husted, along with Republican Chair, Kevin DeWine conspired to make SB5 an embarrassment for Governor John Kasich. The post states, “They (Husted and DeWine) worked to keep police, fire, and EMS in the bill knowing that the commercials would be devastating to Kasich. More importantly to them, defeat of SB 5 would be damaging to Lt. Governor Mary Taylor who they view as a threat to the Husted 2018 dream.”

The post also says, “Husted has made a useful idiot of newly elected treasurer Josh Mandel by pushing him to run for the U.S. Senate. It’s becoming painfully obvious that Mandel is totally unprepared for a rough and tumble fight with Sherrod Brown.”  The idea is, “If Mandel is beaten up enough by Brown, that will weaken another potential rival to the Husted 2018 dream.”

According to this conservative writer, “John Husted need to get his bell rung. It’s likely that only Kasich can make that happen by removing DeWine from the chairmanship of the Ohio Republican Party.”