Ohio Republican Party chair Alex Triantafilou, left, and then-Ohio Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno react during the Republican National Convention Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

During an event held in Fremont, Ohio, state Republican Party Chair Alex Triantafilou acknowledged and bragged about his party’s massive misinformation campaign around the Issue 1 constitutional amendment.

While discussing the campaign strategy for the amendment, Triantafilou said that confusing Ohio voters was a good strategy to secure a Republican victory. The event was first reported by the Fremont News Messenger.

“Wow, I saw we got some momentum on this thing [Issue 1]and realized we might actually pull this out,” Triantafilou said. “A lot of people were saying, ‘We’re confused! We’re confused by Issue 1.’ Did you all hear that? Confusion means we don’t know, so we did our job. Confusing Ohioans was not such a bad strategy.”

The Ohio Republican Party did not immediately respond to a request to add context to Triantafilou’s comment or indicate support for them.

Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters responded on X, calling out GOP leadership in the state for “conspiring to trick Ohio voters.”

The Issue 1 constitutional amendment would have removed politicians from drawing legislative and congressional districts, replacing them with a 15-member non-politician commission. But the Ohio Republican Party used its advantages in the state government to mislead voters into thinking they were ending gerrymandering by voting “no.”

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) implemented blatantly deceptive ballot language for Issue 1, which was described as “inaccurate” and “biased.” Citizens Not Politicians, the organization behind the Issue 1 initiative, sued for more accurate language, but the conservative-dominated state Supreme Court upheld the language written by LaRose.

The effort against Issue 1 also promised voters that rejecting the amendment would “end gerrymandering.” However, voting down the initiative kept the power to draw districts in the hands of the GOP, who have repeatedly rigged the maps in their own favor since 2011.

LaRose, as well as Gov. Mike DeWine (R) and State Auditor Keith Faber (R) have all overseen the gerrymandering in Ohio. All three are not eligible for reelection in 2026 due to term limits. Still, new maps are set to be drawn by the same Republicans later this year.