With Ohio Republicans carving up the state to produce a congressional map that favors its party 12-3 — and Democrats agreeing to it — Mahoning County played a key role as a pawn in the game.

The county will be split starting with the 2026 election with the most egregious work done to Austintown, which ended being one of only 11 of Ohio’s 1,300-plus townships to be divided.

The constitutional amendment that created this process was designed to reduce the number of ways congressional districts could be gerrymandered. But you would be hard-pressed to see that from the map approved 7-0 by the commission, which consists of five Republicans and two Democrats.

In order to get Democrats to sign on to a 12-3 map instead of a 13-2 one that favors Republicans, GOP officials made the toss-up 13th Congressional District, which borders the two districts that include Mahoning and Trumbull counties, more Democratic.

The 13th District, represented by Democrat Emilia Sykes of Akron, is currently one that favors Democrats by less than 1%. Starting with the 2026 election, it will favor Democrats by 4% based on partisan statewide voting results between 2016 and 2024, according to the commission.

To prop up Sykes, Democratic voters had to come from somewhere bordering her district.

The decision was to give the Kent area of Portage County that Republican Dave Joyce, R-Bainbridge, represents in the 14th District to the 13th to help out Sykes.

The population that Joyce’s district, which includes all of Trumbull County, is going to lose had to be made up somewhere.

Because Joyce’s district is essentially landlocked, that population could only come from Mahoning County.

The constitutional amendment on congressional redistricting doesn’t allow counties — except Franklin — to be split into three districts.

Joyce’s district already includes Trumbull, Ashtabula, Lake, Geauga and most of Portage counties.

The only counties that border the 14th are Cuyahoga, Summit, Stark and Mahoning counties.

Cuyahoga and Stark are already split in two and Summit needed to be whole to help Sykes so Mahoning was all that was left. That Republicans decided to save Sykes and go after the district represented by Democrat Greg Landsman of Cincinnati came as somewhat of a surprise.

The split of Mahoning County, starting with the 2026 election, moves Canfield, Jackson, Milton, Berlin, Ellsworth, Craig Beach and a portion of Austintown out of the 6th District, represented by Republican Michael Rulli of Salem, and into the 14th District.

The creative slicing of Austintown was done so every new congressional district will have exactly 786,630 people – except two that each have one fewer person.

And as a bonus, Joyce’s district will become more Republican.

Starting in 2026, the district will favor Republicans 58.5% to 41.5% for Democrats based on partisan statewide voting results between 2016 to 2024, according to the commission. It currently favors Republicans 54.8% to 45.2% for Democrats on voting results from 2014 to

2022.

With the elimination of portions of Mahoning County from the 6th District, the redistricting commission had to make up that lost population.

Instead of just adding all of Tuscarawas County rather than the portion that Rulli currently represents and / or including more of Stark County, which has parts in the 6th, the commission made major changes to the district.

It added all of Tuscarawas and more of Stark — which made sense — but it also carved up Wayne and Holmes counties and put sections in the 6th District while eliminating Monroe, Noble and Washington counties. Speaking of pawns, Holmes has fewer than 45,000 residents yet it’s in two congressional districts.

Of the 15 counties among Ohio’s 88 that would be split into two congressional districts for the next three election cycles, four are in the 6th District.

The 6th will keep all of Columbiana, Jefferson, Carroll, Belmont and Harrison counties.

The commission also made the solid Republican district even safer.

With the 2026 election, the 6th District will favor Republicans 63.9% to 36.1% for Democrats based on partisan statewide voting results between 2016 and 2024, according to the redistricting commission.

The current district favors Republicans 59.1% to 40.9% for Democrats based on partisan statewide voting results from 2014 to 2022.

The reduction of Mahoning voters with the addition of Stark voters in the new 6th means that Mahoning is no longer the district’s most-populous county.

Tom McCabe, chairman of the Mahoning County Republican Party’s executive committee, said, “You always look for the silver lining. We have two congressmen representing us and looking out for our interests. I’m excited to have two Republican congressmen. It’s a good thing to have double representation. Joyce and Rulli have a good relationship.”

One concern McCabe mentioned is with the influx of more Stark voters, that county could have a greater influence over who represents the district in the future.

Mahoning County Democratic Chairman Chris Anderson said: “This illegal gerrymandering not only violates the constitutional amendment, but the spirit of it. It’s truly a testament to how a do-nothing member of Congress like Rulli will represent only the most extreme members of his party in order to win a Republican primary. It also dulls Mahoning County’s representation in Congress. It dilutes the voters of Mahoning County.”

Anderson said: “We’ve got less population so Mike Rulli has even less of a reason to represent Mahoning County with this district. Gerrymandering is bad for people. The root of the nation’s problems go back to gerrymandering by both parties. It’s representatives choosing their constituents and not the other way.

“Rulli has to be beholden to his party because he’ll only face a Republican primary. He doesn’t have any reason to represent any issue that’s important to Mahoning County.”

With Joyce representing such a small portion of Mahoning County, Anderson said the congressman will have even less of a reason to care about it.

David Skolnick covers politics for the Tribune Chronicle and The Vindicator.