Thursday columnist Douglas Rooks has been around the political scene for a long time and has “seen it all.” That is why his optimistic view provides hope (“Furious gerrymandering can still be overcome,” June 18) — even for those of us living in Ohio, where Republicans have successfully made gerrymandering a part of our political reality by repeatedly thumbing their noses at the express will of voters.

The Republican Legislature here ignored two anti-gerrymandering constitutional amendments and engineered a deceitful campaign to defeat a third. Meanwhile, Ohio’s Republican governor and the Republican-dominated Ohio Supreme Court have either looked the other way, encouraged, or even actively participated in such behavior. 

As Mr. Rooks points out, gerrymandering does have an Achilles heel. The landslide vote in Hungary ousting Viktor Orbán and the New Deal coalition in the United States demonstrate that determined voters do have a say. Overcoming well-entrenched Republican majorities in our legislatures and judiciary won’t be easy, but motivated young voters, joining with those of us older folks who remember what it was like before the Roberts’ court, can turn things around.  

Stephen Gladstone
Cleveland, Ohio