Driven by a 12-point win by Republican Donald Trump in Ohio, fellow Republicans achieved continued political success in the Buckeye State in the 2024 General Election. President Trump gained over 55% of the vote in the once Purple Ohio that now is clearly a solid Red state. Trump won 83 of Ohio’s 88 counties including once Democratic centers of power in Canton and Youngstown but, more importantly, in the ex-urban counties of Wood, Delaware, Medina, Bulter, and Warren Counties that were prime targets for Vice President Harris’s campaign as they focused on switching college educated voters away from the Republican Party.
Source: AP/NBC 4 TV
Liberal Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown’s political career began as a “Watergate Baby” winning a seat in the Ohio House in 1974 when he was still in college. Senator Brown who has survived five decades in Ohio politics could not survive a Donald Trump 12 point victory and Cleveland area businessman Bernie Moreno will take Senator Brown’s place in the United States Senate. Brown tried to address his role in addressing the immigration crisis and made a direct pitch to working class Ohio. Moreno focused on social issues and then closed with an ad made by President Trump which no doubt pushed Moreno across the line.
Big Republican majorities will return to the Ohio General Assembly based upon the General Election results. While Democrats did gain several seats in the Blue Leaning Franklin County, Republicans retained control of the several competitive seats in Blue Leaning Cuyahoga County as well as continued their sweep of ex-urban suburban counties and all the rural counties across Ohio. Illustrating the political transition of working-class voters to the Republican Party, union heavy districts in the Mahoning Valley/Youngstown area all voted to keep Republican legislators.
While the Republican wins in the Ohio General Assembly are not surprising considering the Republicans have a substantial fundraising advantage as they hold large majorities, what did surprise many Statehouse pundits is the defeat of Issue 1 which was driven by out of state interests focused on electing more Democrats to the Ohio General Assembly. The proponents of Issue 1 dramatically outspent opponents by a ratio of at least 12:1. The proponent’s message was simple to stop political gerrymandering of legislative districts. However, the opposition of Statehouse Republicans and effective communication to a Donald Trump heavy electorate produced a substantial defeat for Issue 1 overcoming the other sides substantial financial advantage. Statehouse and Ohio Congressional district lines will not change, and Republican Statehouse dominance will continue.
The only statewide candidates on the ballot for Ohio were three Ohio Supreme Court seats and the Republicans proved successful in those races with a nearly equal margin of victory between all the races. Recently, the Ohio General Assembly changed the law that required political affiliation be included for judicial candidates for the Ohio Supreme Court and the state Court of Appeals candidates. With a substantial fundraising advantage and the party affiliation on the ballots, Trump voters also supported the Republican Supreme Court candidates creating a 6-1 majority for Republicans on the Ohio Supreme Court.
Much as with the national election, Ohio did not provide much good news for Democratics on Election Night 2024.
