COLUMBUS — Conservative national political strategist Karl Rove has gotten involved in the fight for control of the Ohio Supreme Court, and he makes it clear he's driven by one issue: redistricting.
In a fund-raising plea distributed by Republican Justice Judith French's campaign, Mr. Rove argues that her Democratic opponent, 10th District Court of Appeals Judge Jennifer Brunner, has the backing of a national redistricting effort headed by former Obama era Attorney General Eric Holder.
“I don't often lend my name to statewide races, but Judi French's race is too important,” wrote the Republican strategist behind the campaigns of President George W. Bush.
Justice French, seeking a second six-year term, faces a tough battle with Judge Brunner, a former Ohio secretary of state, in one of two high court seats on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Republican Justice Sharon Kennedy faces a challenge for a second full term from Democratic Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge John O'Donnell. A similar letter was not sent on Justice Kennedy’s behalf.
The court currently has a 5-2 Republican majority. Should Democrats upset both incumbents, it would create a 4-3 Democratic majority not seen in more than three decades. Judicial candidates do not appear on general election ballots with partisan labels.
The high court will decide any challenge to new congressional and state legislative maps drawn next year under new voter-approved rules following the latest U.S. Census. Those districts have played a role in what is now a Republican-controlled 12-4 congressional delegation, 24-9 state Senate, and 61-38 state House of Representatives.
Mr. Rove, along with former Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and others, are on the board of the Republican National Leadership Committee, which is dedicated to preserving GOP majorities in state capitols ahead of redistricting.
“...when the inevitable legal challenge comes, the Ohio Supreme Court will decide whether those lines are constitutional,” Mr. Rove wrote. “But liberal interest groups from outside Ohio have a different agenda. They want those lines drawn to benefit liberal Democrats. And if they can't control Ohio's legislature to do that, they want to control the Ohio Supreme Court.”
Mr. Holder heads the National Democratic Redistricting Committee that is primarily focused on electing Democrats to state legislatures.
“So far, Obama, Holder, and the NDRC have raised over $50 million to funnel into key state races in order to turn the tide of redistricting,” Mr. Rove wrote. “So Judi faces a mountain of cash on the other side. This is a real threat to Ohio, and if Judi is defeated for re-election, it will have national ramifications.”
In Ohio, the Republican-controlled General Assembly will redraw congressional districts, but a newly reconfigured and renamed Ohio Redistricting Commission, with a 5-2 GOP majority, will draw the state House and Senate maps.
“[The letter is] inappropriate to the extent that he's urging that gerrymandering remain in Ohio,” Judge Brunner said. “I have talked about redistricting in terms of fair districts. Any judge can talk about fairness. But he tends to talk about keeping it in control of Republicans. At least that's the intimation.
“He can say what he wants to, but I don't think Ohioans want gerrymandering any longer or they wouldn't have adopted two amendments to the [Ohio] Constitution that will apply this time around,” she said.
French campaign spokesman Trevor Vessels said a mutual friend connected the justice and Mr. Rove.
“Karl Rove is a recognized name in the political world,” Mr. Vessels said. “Furthermore, 99.9 percent of our contributions are from Ohio donors, and this letter was directed towards Ohio donors. We're fighting an influx of out-of-state contributions for her opponent via ActBlue and a letter from Elizabeth Warren, so it should come as little surprise that people outside of Ohio noticed.”
First Published October 19, 2020, 4:52 p.m.
