Elections in Ohio

Summary

United States presidential election results for Ohio[1]
Year Republican / Whig Democratic Third party
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 3,154,834 53.18% 2,679,165 45.16% 98,447 1.66%
2016 2,841,006 51.31% 2,394,169 43.24% 301,372 5.44%
2012 2,661,437 47.60% 2,827,709 50.58% 101,788 1.82%
2008 2,677,820 46.80% 2,940,044 51.38% 103,967 1.82%
2004 2,859,768 50.81% 2,741,167 48.71% 26,973 0.48%
2000 2,351,209 49.97% 2,186,190 46.46% 168,058 3.57%
1996 1,859,883 41.02% 2,148,222 47.38% 526,329 11.61%
1992 1,894,310 38.35% 1,984,942 40.18% 1,060,712 21.47%
1988 2,416,549 55.00% 1,939,629 44.15% 37,521 0.85%
1984 2,678,560 58.90% 1,825,440 40.14% 43,619 0.96%
1980 2,206,545 51.51% 1,752,414 40.91% 324,644 7.58%
1976 2,000,505 48.65% 2,011,621 48.92% 99,747 2.43%
1972 2,441,827 59.63% 1,558,889 38.07% 94,071 2.30%
1968 1,791,014 45.23% 1,700,586 42.95% 468,098 11.82%
1964 1,470,865 37.06% 2,498,331 62.94% 0 0.00%
1960 2,217,611 53.28% 1,944,248 46.72% 0 0.00%
1956 2,262,610 61.11% 1,439,655 38.89% 0 0.00%
1952 2,100,391 56.76% 1,600,367 43.24% 0 0.00%
1948 1,445,684 49.24% 1,452,791 49.48% 37,596 1.28%
1944 1,582,293 50.18% 1,570,763 49.82% 0 0.00%
1940 1,586,773 47.80% 1,733,139 52.20% 0 0.00%
1936 1,127,855 37.44% 1,747,140 57.99% 137,594 4.57%
1932 1,227,319 47.03% 1,301,695 49.88% 80,714 3.09%
1928 1,627,546 64.89% 864,210 34.45% 16,590 0.66%
1924 1,176,130 58.33% 477,888 23.70% 362,219 17.97%
1920 1,182,022 58.47% 780,037 38.58% 59,594 2.95%
1916 514,753 44.18% 604,161 51.86% 46,172 3.96%
1912 278,168 26.82% 424,834 40.96% 334,092 32.21%
1908 572,312 51.03% 502,721 44.82% 46,519 4.15%
1904 600,095 59.75% 344,674 34.32% 59,624 5.94%
1900 543,918 52.30% 474,882 45.66% 21,273 2.05%
1896 525,991 51.86% 477,497 47.08% 10,807 1.07%
1892 405,187 47.66% 404,115 47.53% 40,862 4.81%
1888 416,054 49.51% 396,455 47.18% 27,852 3.31%
1884 400,082 50.99% 368,280 46.94% 16,248 2.07%
1880 375,048 51.73% 340,821 47.01% 9,098 1.25%
1876 330,698 50.21% 323,182 49.07% 4,769 0.72%
1872 281,852 53.24% 244,321 46.15% 3,263 0.62%
1868 280,167 54.00% 238,621 46.00% 0 0.00%
1864 265,654 56.37% 205,599 43.63% 0 0.00%
1860 221,809 51.24% 187,421 43.30% 23,632 5.46%
1856 187,497 48.51% 170,874 44.21% 28,126 7.28%
1852 152,523 43.18% 168,933 47.83% 31,732 8.98%
1848 138,359 42.12% 154,773 47.12% 35,347 10.76%
1844 155,113 49.68% 149,061 47.74% 8,050 2.58%
1840 148,157 54.10% 124,782 45.57% 903 0.33%
1836 104,958 51.87% 96,238 47.56% 1,137 0.56%

Elections in Ohio are held on a county, state, and federal level. The Republicans are strongest in the rural Northwest, the affluent Cincinnati and Columbus suburbs, and have made gains in Appalachian Southeast Ohio and the industrial, working-class Northeast in the 21st century. The Democrats rely on the state's major cities, and have made gains in educated suburban areas in recent years.

The state was strongly Republican from the party's inception, as it voted Republican in every election from 1856 to 1908. The northern Union-aligned part of the state kept the state Republican, and consistently narrowed edged out the Democratic and Appalachia-influenced southern Ohio. Since 1896, however, Ohio has voted for the winning candidate, except for Franklin D Roosevelt in 1944, John F Kennedy in 1960, and Joe Biden in 2020. This was due to Democratic gains in the northeastern part of the state. The state has not backed a losing candidate in consecutive elections since 1848. Due to a close split in party registration, it has been key battleground state. No Republican has ever been elected president without winning Ohio. In 2004, Ohio was the tipping point state, as Bush won the state with 51% of the vote, giving him its 20 electoral votes and the margin he needed in the Electoral College for re-election. The state was closely contested in 2008 and 2012, with Barack Obama winning narrowly on both occasions. Ohio has been a bellwether state in presidential elections.

Since 2016, Ohio's bellwether status has been questioned given that Donald Trump won it by 8 points, the largest margin for each party since 1988, and then won the state by a similar margin in 2020 despite losing nationwide.[2][3]

In a 2020 study, Ohio was ranked as the 17th hardest state for citizens to vote in.[4]

Federal elections edit

State elections edit

Local elections edit

Election security edit

In the leadup to the 2020 Ohio elections, by February 2020, eight Ohio counties had failed to complete an election security checklist required by Ohio's top election official. One county, Van Wert County Board of Elections, was placed on administrative oversight because it provided no plan for complying with the directive.[5]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Leip, David. "Presidential General Election Results Comparison – Ohio". US Election Atlas. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
  2. ^ No longer mirror of US, Ohio's electoral bellwether quiets Associated Press. November 14, 2020.
  3. ^ Political Scientist Says Ohio Is No Longer A Bellwether, Swing, Or Battleground State Statehouse News Bureau. November 5, 2020.
  4. ^ J. Pomante II, Michael; Li, Quan (15 Dec 2020). "Cost of Voting in the American States: 2020". Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy. 19 (4): 503–509. doi:10.1089/elj.2020.0666. S2CID 225139517.
  5. ^ https://www.dispatch.com/news/20200205/8-ohio-counties-fail-to-meet-election-security-deadline[bare URL]

External links edit

  • Elections & Voting at the Ohio Secretary of State official website
  • Ohio at Ballotpedia
  • Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "Ohio", Voting & Elections Toolkits
  • "Ohio: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links", Vote.org, Oakland, CA
  • "League of Women Voters of Ohio". (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
  • National Institute on Money in Politics; Campaign Finance Institute, "Ohio 2019 & 2020 Elections", OpenSecrets. (Also: 1995 & 1996, 1997 & 1998, 1999 & 2000, 2001 & 2002, 2003 & 2004, 2005 & 2006, 2007 & 2008, 2009 & 2010, 2011 & 2012, 2013 & 2014, 2015 & 2016, 2017 & 2018).
  • Digital Public Library of America. Assorted materials related to Ohio elections
  • "State Elections Legislation Database", Ncsl.org, Washington, D.C.: National Conference of State Legislatures, State legislation related to the administration of elections introduced in 2011 through this year, 2020