Legislature approves trans bathroom restriction in Ohio schools, universities • The story: Ohio is just one step away from enacting a transgender bathroom restriction in schools after the Ohio Senate voted 24-7 on Wednesday to pass a bill that bars transgender students from using K-12 school or university bathrooms that correspond to their gender. • The effect: The bill, once approved by Gov. Mike DeWine, will require public and chartered nonpublic schools and all institutions of higher education to adopt and enforce policies designating their multi-occupancy facilities for the “exclusive use of students of either the male biological sex or the female biological sex.” Students can prove their biological sex using their birth certificates. • Politics: It’s a divisive issue that played along the Senate’s party lines on Wednesday, but Republicans fully believe that most Americans — up to 75% — are with them on transgender issues, and feel even surer about it following last week’s election result, where transgender issues were a central tenet of the political rhetoric. • Reactions: The bill dismayed transgender advocates, who on Wednesday predicted that it would result in increased bullying and the exodus of current and future educators while further exacerbating mental health struggles common among transgender youth. They noted it would put all transgender students, but particularly “passing” transgender students, in tricky and potentially dangerous situations. ‘Red wave’ breaks over Ohio • The lede: A red wave washed over Ohio last week from the top to the bottom of the ticket, unseating a long-time U.S. senator, giving the GOP solid control of the Ohio Supreme Court — while maintaining a supermajority in the Statehouse — and even flipping at least one local county seat currently held by Democrats. • Finer details: Ohio’s red shift — cemented over the last decade — still iterates every election. From 2016 to 2020, Democrats made gains in the cities and suburbs of Ohio but lost ground in rural areas; in 2024, President-elect Donald Trump “improved his vote share by about 3% everywhere,” said Lee Hannah, a professor of political science at Wright State University. • Trickle-down: You can extrapolate this phenomenon down the ballot. Republicans unseated Ohio’s longstanding Democratic U.S. Senator, took a 6-to-1 majority on the Ohio Supreme Court, maintained supermajorities in the Ohio Statehouse, and defeated a redistricting amendment that the party, both in-state and nationally, were vehemently against. Local political news of the week • In the balance: The Montgomery County Board of Elections, still poring through more than 6,000 provisional ballots, is expected to certify election results on Nov. 20 that will determine the outcome of several county races that can still tip either way. Sydney Dawes has the full story. • Recall: Brookville Mayor Chuck Letner and Vice Mayor James Zimmerlin are pushing back against a resident-run effort that successfully filed petitions to remove the two leaders from office. Aimee Hancock has the story. • Levies fall: While a few school district measures were passed, including a Yellow Springs substitute levy, voters in Greene County solidly rejected several new and existing tax levies in local cities, including one in Xenia that had been in place for more than six decades. London Bishop has the story. State political news of the week • Intoxicating hemp ban floated: A Dayton-area state senator testified this week in support of his new proposal to ban the sale of intoxicating hemp products in Ohio regardless of the age of the consumer following months of deliberations on the topic. Here’s my story. • Racist text campaign: The Ohio Attorney General’s Office opened an inquiry over the weekend following news that an unspecified number of Black Ohioans were reached by a racist, nationwide text campaign that threatened or implied the return of slavery following last week’s election. Here’s my story. • Bettor tax rate?: Dayton-area state Sen. Niraj Antani, the author of a bill that legalized Ohio sports betting in 2022, proposes cutting the sports gaming tax rate back to its original 10% after the state bumped it to 20% last year. Here’s my story. • Redistricting future: Ohio voters last week resoundingly rejected an option to make a transformative update to the way the state draws legislative districts, leaving the future of reform of the much-critiqued current system uncertain ahead of a pending call from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to update the system again. Here’s my story. National political news of the week • Pending district update: Last week’s failure of Ohio’s Issue 1 redistricting proposal means that Ohio will use its current system when it redraws Ohio’s 15 congressional districts in 2025, but the current system’s rules has opened itself up to constitutional challenges and critique. Here’s my story. • Political posturing: After losing the White House and both houses of Congress, Democrats are grappling with how to handle transgender politics and policy following a campaign that featured withering and often misleading GOP attacks on the issue. The Associated Press has the story. | 
