Election 2016 Results: Who won Ohio?
Ohio has a large number of electoral votes and a status as a bellwether state. Did Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton win it this year?
UPDATE: Donald Trump is projected to take Ohio.
Donald Trump will win Ohio and its 18 electoral votes, CNN projects https://t.co/yzr69NacVY #CNNElection #ElectionNight pic.twitter.com/tKrFzqGl3f
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) November 9, 2016
Election Day has finally arrived. Hopefully, we’ll all know the next president late tonight. One of the earliest states to close its polls is Ohio.
This year, 270 to Win rates Ohio and its 18 electoral votes as a complete toss-up. The state has not gone for a losing candidate in the last 10 elections, so it generally serves as an early sign of how the night may go for both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
The state has seen turnout in early voting fall somewhat compared to 2012, the last presidential election. However, both candidates have spent time in the state as of late — remember Jay Z and Beyoncé’s concert for Clinton? It took place in Cleveland.
Democrats have won the presidency without winning Ohio. Both Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in 1944, and John F. Kennedy, in 1960, pulled off the victory without this Midwestern state. Republicans, meanwhile, have not won without Ohio…ever. In other words, the pressure’s on.
President Barack Obama won the state both in 2008 and 2012. However, polls currently show Donald Trump with a slight edge; RealClearPolitics puts the spread as Trump up by just over 2 points. Sites like NPR show that the 18 electoral votes are almost necessary for him to reach 270, though perhaps not quite as important as, say, Florida.
Polls in Ohio close at 7:30 PM EST, according to Politico, and you can expect election results shortly after those polls start closing. However, the state may end up as too close to call for some time.
When bureaus like the Associated Press begin calling the race, we will update this post with Ohio results for the presidential election. The state also has a Senate election, but RCP has put it in the safe Republican column for incumbent Rob Portman.
Next: Election Day 2016 results
Keep checking back here on FanSided.com for all the latest election results.