Columbus: the packed capital
Columbus is the blue heart of central Ohio: Franklin County votes about 64 percent Democratic, and it is growing.
Ohio's maps were rejected seven times by the state Supreme Court as unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders, and Columbus, below, is the classic move: pack the growing Democratic capital into as few districts as possible so it can't tip any others.
Drawing the county into one safe blue seat wastes those extra votes and leaves the districts around it comfortably Republican. Ohio drew yet another map for 2026, a bipartisan deal this time; lines shifted around the state, but the Columbus vote sink stayed exactly as it was.
You are playing the Democrats. Columbus is a Democratic city of over a million people. Draw the lines so its votes win a majority of the districts instead of being sunk into one.
Clinton 59.8%, Trump 33.9%. Franklin County's 2016 presidential vote.
The 3rd District packs Columbus at 70 percent Democratic; the 12th and 15th wrap around it and stay red (2016 vote).