To the editor:

In his Sept. 20 letter, Barry Bardone claims Democrats are just as guilty of gerrymandering as Republicans, pointing to Massachusetts and Illinois to make his case. But his examples, as usual, don’t stand up to a simple Google search — and they certainly don’t excuse what has happened in Ohio.

First, Massachusetts. The writer says the state has 11 districts and that Republicans are “gerrymandered out” despite Trump winning 42 percent of the vote. Both claims are incorrect. Massachusetts has nine congressional districts, not 11. And Donald Trump never won 42 percent of the vote there — in 2016 he received about 33 percent, in 2020 about 32 percent and 2024 it was 36 percent. Massachusetts Republicans struggle not because of gerrymandering, but because their votes are evenly spread across the state. They don’t have a concentrated base large enough to form a Republican-majority district. That’s why Republicans have no House seats in Massachusetts, regardless of how the maps are drawn.

Illinois is a different story. Democrats there clearly drew maps to maximize their advantage; and Republicans are left with only three of 17 congressional districts even though Trump won 38 percent in 2016, 40 percent in 2020 and 43 percent in 2024. The yearly averages of Trump’s win — 40 percent, not 45 percent as the writer claims. That is a partisan gerrymander and it certainly warrants criticism.

But here’s the key difference which he conveniently left out: In Ohio, the voters themselves passed two constitutional amendments — in 2015 and 2018 — explicitly banning partisan gerrymandering. The amendments required districts to reflect the state’s political balance and keep communities intact. Despite this, Republican leaders in Columbus rammed through gerrymandered maps that were struck down by the Ohio Supreme Court as unconstitutional not once, but multiple times. Rather than follow the law and the will of Ohio voters, Republicans simply ran out the clock and forced their illegal maps into place for the 2022 election.

That is not the same as Illinois. It’s worse. In Ohio, where we actually live, gerrymandering isn’t just unfair — it’s unconstitutional and a direct violation of the law that Ohioans overwhelmingly voted on and supported.

There’s an old saying that applies here, you’re entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.

Candy DeStefano

Wintersville