MEDINA — Rep. Bob Gibbs has dropped his bid for re-election.
Gibbs, who currently represents Ohio’s Seventh District, released a statement Thursday announcing that he will retire at the end of his term.
In that statement, he criticized Ohio’s ongoing redistricting process, which has included multiple maps and court challenges.
“Given Ohio’s redistricting fiasco, and the Ohio Supreme Court’s irresponsible handling of it, I’ve been given time to reassess my future,” Gibbs wrote on his re-election Twitter page. “This was a difficult decision, one which I did not make lightly.
“I want to thank family, friends, and supporters for their encouragement and the voters’ confidence in me the previous six elections.”
Gibbs said the Ohio Supreme Court’s “long, drawn-out processes” for ruling on the state’s congressional map is detrimental to Ohioans.
The Ohio Supreme Court is considering whether to approve the state legislative plan passed last week after rejecting three previous plans as unconstitutionally slanted in favor of Republicans.
Meanwhile, a federal takeover of Ohio’s redistricting process is looming. A panel of three federal judges is supervising the state process and has signaled it will pick its own map if the state doesn’t pass one by April 20.
Gibbs was first elected to represent Ohio’s 18th Congressional District in 2010. Ohio’s congressional map was redrawn following the 2010 census and Gibbs found himself in the state’s 7th Congressional District. He ran successfully for the district seat in 2012 and has retained it ever since.
After the 2020 Census, Gibbs’ district was redrawn again. The former 7th District encompassed much of rural north central Ohio, including Ashland County, Knox County and portions of northern Richland County. As of now, it features none of those areas, but includes more metropolitan areas including Wooster, Medina, and some suburbs of Cleveland.
The shift in the 7th District’s boundary lines had put Gibbs in contention with Max Miller, a former aide to President Donald Trump. The incumbent’s name will remain on the ballot, according to the Ohio Secretary of State, but any votes for Gibbs will not be counted.
A Holmes County resident and longtime farmer, Gibbs will retire with six congressional terms under his belt. He said in his statement that he’ll use his retirement to spend more time with family.
“Since 2011, I’ve had the honor of serving the people of Ohio’s 18th, then 7th District,” he wrote. “I helped reform federal water resources policy, made clean water utilities more affordable for low-income communities, cut taxes & red tape for millions of American families & businesses and fought for a cleaner, safer Lake Erie.
“I am proud of this work and am grateful for the opportunity to do it on behalf of Ohioans.”
