GOP mapmakers’ defiance of Ohio high court divides parties

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — State leaders are continuing to spar over whether the Ohio Supreme Court should force the state’s Republican-dominated political mapmaking panel to answer for defying a court order to redraw unconstitutional Statehouse maps. Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, the state’s elections chief, told justices Friday that a federal court subsequently ordered him to impose the invalidated map in an Aug. 2 primary, so it’s too late for this cycle to draw new maps that meet Ohio’s constitution. Democratic commissioners said Republicans should not be allowed to break the law without consequences or they will continue to “do what they want.”