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Why Ohio is a key battleground state

113 views · Published 2 August 2016 · 3:16 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: LOCAL 12 · 2016 · News & Politics

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CINCINNATI (WKRC) - With both conventions now behind us, the presidential candidates are zeroing in on states which will make or break their campaign.

And none of those states may be more important than Ohio. Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine will be together in Youngstown, Cleveland and Columbus over the weekend. Donald Trump was in Toledo Wednesday, July 27, and Mike Pence was in Lima Friday evening, July 29.

Ohio is basically a fifty-fifty state. One Republican senator, one Democratic senator, close presidential elections, two presidential candidates basically tied in the polls there and 18 electoral votes. Ohio has gone for the winning presidential candidate every election since 1964.

“As everyone in this great hall knows, as goes Ohio so goes the nation.”

That was what Senator Sherrod Brown told the Democratic convention Thursday night, July 28, and both campaigns know it. And just like 2012, which was close, 2016 could be even closer. Each side needs to get out its base. But in 2016 Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton can't take normal Republican and Democratic voters for granted.

Professor Mack Mariani, a Xavier University professor, said, “She's going to have to keep speaking to and making the case for Bernie Sanders supporters, which will take away time and attention from independent voters who don't necessarily think the same way as the Bernie Sanders supporters. Likewise, Trump needs to bring over traditional Republican voters. It's a little different with Trump. Some of those voters who are 'never Trump' are very conservative, and some of those voters who are 'never Trump' are very moderate. So he's got to speak to two different groups.”

But each side will also try to cut into the other's base. Donald Trump's key constituency is white working class men who feel economically left behind. Expect Trump to focus on places like Mahoning County, Youngstown, where Obama won big in 2012, but where Trump expects inroads.

Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, expects to get more white, college educated suburban women who used to vote Republican but were turned off by Trump. Warren County went big for the GOP in 2012. But Clinton may cut into that margin.

People can expect to see the presidential candidates again and again in Ohio, as Ohioans do every four years. Cicadas, on the other hand, are every seventeen years.

As for Hamilton County, in 2012, President Obama beat Mitt Romney 53 percent to 46 percent.

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