Nearly everyone, from grade school kids to great-grandmothers, understands the age old dilemma of which came first: the chicken or the egg?
Let’s say you are a rookie baseball player, just called up from the minors. You’re struggling at the plate, so the manager benches you. But you can’t become a better hitter sitting in the dugout. You must get at-bats.
Chicken or egg?
Or maybe you are a young person trying to land a good-paying first job out of school. You are turned down again and again because you have no experience. But the only way you can get experience is to work.
Chicken or egg?
Last week, Republican Joe Deters, the newest member of the Ohio Supreme Court and former Hamilton County prosecutor, went on a right-wing talk show in Cleveland and spoke out against Issue 1, the “Citizens Not Politicians” ballot issue that would fundamentally change the way Ohio’s state legislative and congressional district lines are drawn.
RELATED: Redistricting is on Ohio's ballot again. What's different this time?
Democrats, Deters told talk show host Bob Frantz, want to change the rules of redistricting because they can’t win under the current rules.
“I think it’s kind of humorous to watch,” Deters said. “When the other side can’t win, they want to change the rules. Whether packing the U.S. Supreme Court because they don’t have the justices they like or getting rid of the electoral college because they don’t have a clear advantage in the electoral college like they do in a flat popular vote.”
He's right Democrats can’t win under the current system. But that's because Republicans have total control of drawing legislative district lines.
Chicken or egg?
Deters was appointed by his friend, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, when a vacancy occurred because of the election of fellow Republican Sharon Kennedy as chief justice.
He could be running this year for the remainder of Kennedy’s term as an associate justice, but instead he is running for a six-year term, challenging Democrat Melody Stewart, the first African American woman elected to the Ohio Supreme Court. Deters says his plan all along was to run for a six-year term.
Stewart put out a statement last week pointing out the irony of Deters’ accusing Democrats of wanting to change the redistricting system to help their chances of winning seats.
“An appointment from his old friend was the only way my opponent could get on the court,’’ Stewart said. “The party label rule change is the only way to make him a viable candidate. Now he wants to complain about changing the rules for partisan benefit.”
ANALYSIS: Why is Joe Deters running against fellow justice Melody Stewart?
A spokesman for the Citizens Not Politicians campaign declined to comment on Deters’ radio remarks.
What Issue 1 would do is take the drawing of legislative district lines out of the hands of either political party’s elected officials and put it in the hands of a 15-member citizens’ commission, made up of equal numbers of Republicans, Democrats and independents.
They would be chosen by a bipartisan panel of retired judges. No present or former elected official or party leader could serve. No lobbyists either.
What has the Ohio Republican Party and its elected officials worried is that Issue 1 could spell the end of the GOP’s supermajority in the Ohio General Assembly.
No one is saying that the Citizens Not Politicians constitutional amendment would spell the end of Republicans holding onto control of the Ohio General Assembly.
But what it could do is even the playing field in enough districts to put an end to the Republican's current 60% control necessary for a veto-proof supermajority.
And that, in and of itself, would be a huge victory for the Democrats. Republicans in the legislature might have to actually reach across the aisle occasionally and work with the them.
What caught the attention of those in Ohio’s political world about Deters’ comments on the radio is that, as a justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, he could end up deciding cases that arise from Issue 1 if it passes.
Deters did say in his interview with Frantz that he should be “careful” about what he says on the issue, since it could land back in the laps of the Ohio Supreme Court.
LISTEN: Issue 1 supporters say voters are being hoodwinked
He’s already on record in a recent challenge to the changes Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s ballot board made to the ballot language. The suit claimed LaRose re-wrote the ballot language to harm its chances of passage.
Deters and the three other Republican justices sided with LaRose and rejected the challenge.
There is a lot at stake in the three Ohio Supreme Court races this year. The current balance of power is in favor of Republicans, 4-3. If the Democrats were to flip one seat, it could give them control of the court.
That’s why the Ohio Democratic Party is laser-focused on re-electing Stewart — which makes it even more odd that Deters would go on right-wing radio and say things that could upset the apple cart.
You can’t go on right-wing radio and think for a minute that your words won’t go beyond the MAGA echo chamber.
