Here Is Action We Recommend

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Americans agree on far more than the news suggests. It does not feel that way, because a small number of very loud people are shown to us constantly until we mistake them for everyone. And agreement by itself does not move legislation, because a legislator answers to donors, to primary voters, and to whoever controls the calendar — not to the broad majority – as long as the majority is silent and does not take action.

So for those who want change: what can we do? Part One presents five steps that individuals can take right now to have an impact. Part Two recommends two top-priority structural reforms that would lower the barriers to passing legislation Americans broadly support. Those two structural changes may take years to complete, so it is necessary that we start now.

Part One: What one person can do

1. Vote, and especially in the primary

In a district drawn by gerrymandering to be safe, the general election is a formality. The primary decides the seat. Which means the electorate our representative answers to is not our entire district — it is the much smaller, much more ideological group associated with his political party that turns out in the spring.

In Ohio we do not have to join a party to vote in a primary. But you do request a party ballot at the polls, and that request is what sets your listed affiliation. You can request a different one next time if you like.

We know how that sounds to an independent voter. It feels like taking sides. But voting in the primary is necessary to have a seat at the table where the choice of candidates gets made. If you vote only in November, your vote is real — but you are choosing between two people who were selected for you by a very small number of other people.

2. Show up where the room is small

Township trustees. County commissioners. School boards. Zoning hearings. Statehouse committee hearings.

These are the rooms where a decision cannot quietly be left unscheduled, where the people deciding live nearby, and where twelve residents is a big turnout.

This is not a consolation prize. The data center fights in the previous essay are being won in exactly these rooms — while the state-level versions of the same bills stall out. Small rooms are where citizens are currently beating money and inertia, in real time, in Ohio.

And nobody in those rooms is trying to figure out your position on abortion or gender identity. They are trying to decide about a road, a levy, a permit, a budget. It is the part of American government that still works roughly the way people assume all of it works.

3. Pick two issues, not twenty

The previous essay explained why broad, shallow support loses to narrow, intense opposition. Eighty-seven percent approval is worth very little when nobody in that 87% has ever done anything about it.

So pick one or two issues — three at the most — and fight for them. Learn them well enough to ask tough questions and propose solutions. Follow the specific bill. Show up more than once. Become the person your representative’s staff recognizes on that subject.

One person genuinely intense about two things outweighs a hundred people mildly in favor of everything. That is not an inspirational sentiment. It is the arithmetic of how legislatures respond.

4. Get it on the record

A vague answer costs a candidate nothing. A specific answer, in writing, before an election, is a piece of accountability that did not exist before.

Ask about a named bill, not a topic. Ask for a yes or a no. Write it down. Publish it.

The question that works is not “where do you stand on money in politics.” It is “will you cosponsor this specific bill — yes or no?”

5. Join with others, amplify your voice, create intensity

A single letter is easy to file and ignore. A group that shows up repeatedly, asks specific questions, and remembers what was said last time is a constituency.

Join Ohio District 14 Partners, or join some other group that speaks to your interests and passion. Organized people are the only thing in American politics that has ever competed with organized money.

Part Two: The long fights

The five actions above change what a legislator hears. Structural reform changes the incentives that determine what a legislator does.

We have picked two high impact reforms for focus below. We believe these are the highest-leverage reforms available and that addressing these two creates a foundation necessary before other reforms can move forward. But these two reforms may take years to implement, and so we need to be committed to the long game to succeed.

Reform 1 – Get big donor money out of campaigns

Americans are close to unanimous on the diagnosis of what ails us. In a national survey in October 2025, 79% said large political spending by wealthy donors and corporations creates corruption or the appearance of it — 84% of Democrats and 74% of Republicans. Three-quarters said it makes them lose faith in our democracy.

Broad agreement on identifying a problem does not automatically transfer to broad agreement on a fix. We are in the early days of creating intensity about this issue. Candidate solutions that can have an impact include:

  • Legislation at the state level governing state campaigns.
  • A state constitutional amendment, such as the Montana measure on this November’s ballot directed at limiting corporate contributions to political campaigns in Montana.
  • Legislation at the federal level governing campaign spending and transparency of reporting.
  • An amendment to the U.S. Constitution addressing campaign finance regulation.

No amendment to the Constitution in American history has happened without years of groundwork first — and the groundwork is precisely the part ordinary people can do. Making the case. Building the support and the intensity required to drive it home. We are beginning to hear calls for such an amendment from state groups, politicians, and advocacy organizations. We can all help make this happen.

Reform 2 – Fair voting maps

This objective hits very close to home, and Ohioans have considerable experience to build upon. Ohio’s history with voting maps is important enough that we have given it its own case study. There is a lot to learn from Ohio’s history on drawing district maps.

Where things stand now. Ohio’s districts are drawn under two separate maps, adopted two years apart, and both are locked in for the rest of the decade. Keep in mind that across a decade of statewide races, Republicans have averaged about 55% of the Ohio state-wide vote, but both of these maps provide Republicans with a substantially higher percentage of seats in the legislature.

Ohio General Assembly. The Ohio Redistricting Commission adopted the current Statehouse maps on September 27, 2023, and the Ohio Supreme Court dismissed the challenges to them that November. They govern through the 2030 elections. Under them, the 2024 election returned Republicans to 65 of 99 seats in the Ohio House (65.7%) and 24 of 33 seats in the Ohio Senate (72.7%).

U.S. Congress. On October 31, 2025, the same commission voted unanimously to adopt a new US congressional map, effective for the 2026, 2028, and 2030 elections. Ohio’s current delegation is 10 Republicans and 5 Democrats (66.7%), elected under the old map. The new map draws a Republican advantage into 12 of 15 districts — 80% — by moving two of the three competitive seats Democrats had been winning into the Republican column. The districts held by Greg Landsman (Cincinnati), Marcy Kaptur (Toledo), and Emilia Sykes (Akron) were the ones redrawn.

The public check was traded away. Because the congressional map was passed by the commission rather than the legislature, it is not subject to citizen referendum. That was not incidental — Senate President Rob McColley said publicly that the commission map avoided a referendum fight over anything the General Assembly might have passed. Democrats on the commission voted yes because the alternative was worse: had the October 31 deadline passed, the legislature could have imposed its own map on a simple party-line majority by November 30. The deal bought a less severe map at the price of the voters’ ability to overturn it.

There are two paths forward to correct this imbalance.

1. Influence who holds statewide office. Ohio’s Governor, Secretary of State, and Auditor all sit on the Redistricting Commission, and all three are on the ballot this November. Who holds those seats shapes how the commission behaves and how any future reform is carried out. The Secretary of State additionally chairs the Ohio Ballot Board, which writes the ballot language voters read on every statewide issue. This path does not reopen the current congressional map — that runs through 2031 regardless. But everything after it is shaped by these officeholders.

2. A citizen-initiated constitutional amendment. The signature deadline for the November 2026 ballot has already passed, which makes November 2027 the earliest realistic target. That means a multi-year signature-gathering and ballot campaign, and there is no faster option. So let’s get started.

Please read our case study on Ohio’s recent history of drawing voting district maps for a deeper understanding of why this topic matters so much.

Sources and methodology
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