By Rev. Donald L. Perryman, Ph.D.
The Truth Contributor
You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas. – Shirley Chisholm
It’s easy to get caught up in the daily “Three Shells and a Pea” drama swirling around Ohio’s 9th Congressional District.
One day, the GOP shuffles the shells: former State Representative Derek Merrin and current State Representative Josh Williams launch dueling campaigns within hours of each other—each convinced they’re the one who can flip the district red. The next day, Alea Nadeem, a decorated U.S. Air Force veteran, enters the race with her own compelling story of service and survival.
While the Dems’ eyes dart back and forth, trying to keep track which candidate presents the greatest threat to Marcy Kaptur’s 23rd term in the U.S. House of Representatives, or which shell to bet on, so to speak, something more important is happening out of view.
Because in every shell game, the real question is not what cup you pick. It’s whether the pea was ever under any of them to begin with.
While the voting public is led to believe that the campaign for Ohio’s 9th Congressional district is a contest of credentials, personalities and loyalty to Donald Trump, the media, playing the role of the shill, dutifully elevates the performative outrage, rewards shallow sound bites over substance, and “treats the campaign like a horse race to be wagered on rather than a serious choice about people’s lives.”
But you know, like I know —the Republican field isn’t genuinely competing on credentials at all. That’s the hustle; it’s just for show.
Their contest revolves only around who can out-Trump Trump himself. For the GOP, it is an opportunity to leverage grievance and spectacle to make this seat a referendum not on issues but on identity. It’s less a primary and more a demolition derby—a contest to see who can burn the house down first.
Meanwhile, Democrats and pundits spend endless hours dissecting who moved where, who filed paperwork first, or whose record of chaotic leadership, hollow soundbites, or scorched-earth culture-war proposals will resonate beyond social media.
But while everyone else’s attention is glued to the clown show—watching which candidate can shout the loudest or squeeze into the clown car, Republicans are quietly slipping the pea into their pocket and focusing on something far more consequential: redrawing the map itself. That’s the real chessboard, if I may switch the metaphor for a moment. And Democrats are still playing checkers.
It’s the Map, stupid!
This election will be won or lost on cartography and not on policy issues or personality.
A seasoned political observer put it bluntly: “There’s actually a huge amount of uncertainty related to this congressional campaign because Ohio will be redrawing the district lines before the next election. The fear is that they will legislate Marcy out by dividing Toledo into two congressional districts. This is similar to how they got former Ohio 3rd Congressional District (Dayton) Tony Hall out of the House.”
That is the game Republicans are playing. While Democrats are busy scrutinizing the Republican demolition derby, Republicans are preparing to fracture the map and engineer a permanent advantage in our district. And it is the real threat facing Marcy Kaptur and any Democrat who wants to represent northwest Ohio.
This is not hyperbole but a blueprint.
The GOP currently controls the Ohio legislature and holds a 5-2 majority on the redistricting commission. The Ohio Supreme Court—once the last line of defense against partisan gerrymandering—now has a 6-1 Republican majority following the retirement of Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor. The same court that previously struck down earlier maps for being unconstitutionally rigged is unlikely to intervene again.
That simple truth should guide everything from fundraising to fieldwork because no amount of nostalgia or charisma will matter if the district itself is reengineered out from under the Democrats.
Yet, anticipate the new gerrymandered lines to come— but don’t be paralyzed by them.
As Mary J. Blige once sang, “I’m not gon’ cry, I’m not gon’ cry, I’m not gon’ shed no tears.”
Those lyrics should be the Democratic Party’s mantra now. There is no time for tears or hand-wringing—because no one is coming to save Northwest Ohio if voters and organizers don’t save themselves.
While Democrats argue over checkers, Republicans are flipping over the entire board.
The question is whether, this time, Democrats will finally “stand on business!” Not merely pick up the pieces, but learn the real rules of the game, and play to win.
Contact Rev. Donald Perryman, PhD, at drdlperryman@enterofhopebaptist.org