Say the word "gerrymandering" to even a partially informed U.S. voter and their blood pressure rises. They've seen the maps with amphibian-like shapes and the jokes on viral late-night clips. They know gerrymandering is bad. Few, however, fully understand what it is, how it works, how we got here, or what we can do about it. Draw the Line in Ohio by legal analyst Rory Riley Topping and Washington correspondent Josh Rultenberg offers a grounded, firsthand overview of unfair redistricting through the story of Ohio's recent gerrymandering fight. The battlecame to a head after the 2022 repeal of Roe vs. Wade, driving national headlines, including political scandals, special elections, backroom deals, and an eventual expansion of partisan power. At the center was a 2015 constitutional amendment that promised to make the state's redistricting process less partisan and more transparent. A promise that Ohioans and voters nationwide would see broken. Through interviews with the Ohio Redistricting Commission (ORC), prominent politicians, advocates, and academics, Topping and Rultenberg break down legal cases and political maneuvers to help the average American understand exactly how, and why, gerrymandering is a chief cause of political corruption. Written with clear, accessible language, and enlivened by smart analogies from the world of pop culture and sports, Draw the Line in Ohio keeps readers engaged and entertained - and brings well-timed levity to unpack what is arguably one of the greatest existential threats to US democracy. This thorough and thoughtful book also provides concrete proof that even when up against seemingly insurmountable odds, the most powerful person in any state isn't one of its legislative leaders; it's the voters when they speak up and use every tool available to defend democracy.
Rory Riley Topping is an attorney and on-air legal analyst with experience in all three branches of the federal government in Washington, D.C., as well as litigation counsel for a national non-profit organization. She brings a deep understanding of the innerworkings of government to her legal analysis and writing. Her writing has appeared in The Hill, Medium, the Standford Law & Policy Review, and more, and has been cited by famed jurist Richard Posner in his book Reflections on Judging. She was awarded the Hart T. Mankin Distinguished Service Award by the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims for her institutional history book about the court. Topping is a regularly invited guest speaker at national conferences, and her commentary is frequently sought out on national television and radio. She currently lives in the suburbs of Boston with her husband, Richard, who is a veteran of the U.S. Army, their son, Tripp, and puppy Tegan. Josh Rultenberg works for the U.S. House of Representatives and is a former on-air Washington correspondent. Prior to his time in D.C., Josh was Spectrum News 1 Ohio's Statehouse reporter from 2020 to 2022. He continuously broke news about the inner workings of the then newly formed Ohio Redistricting Committee's legislative and congressional map making process, and his live-tweets proved to be a definitive index and timeline for future court cases and historical records.
"If a once-bellwether and moderate-minded state like Ohio can be plunged into unending political chaos and unrepresentative extremism, it can happen anywhere. So that makes it a story that needs to be told, and understood, way beyond Ohio . . . For those concerned about what feels like a downward spiral in American politics, this is a must-read account of WHY it's happening." --David Pepper, former Ohio Democratic Party Chair and author of Saving Democracy "Illuminating and urgent... Draw the Line in Ohio reveals how our current political map-making process allows for gross misuse of power, how elected and unelected officials have exploited the process to preserve their own interests, and how we can fix our broken system. Necessary reading for anyone concerned about the future of democracy in America." --Pat McCrory, former governor of North Carolina
