Ohio pivotal in presidential race; US House seats at stake
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s role as a bellwether for the nation remains in play this year after Democrat Joe Biden mounted a strong challenge to Republican President Donald Trump for the state’s 18 electoral votes.
The former vice president stepped up media spending as early voting began in October, even as Trump’s campaign pulled back on some spending in the state. Trump won a surprisingly decisive 8-percentage-point victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016.
No one has been elected president without carrying Ohio since 1960, and no Republican has ever been elected without Ohio.
Ohio’s elections chief, Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, said several “isolated problems” at polling sites were resolved and that voting was going smoothly Tuesday. As the state continued to see a surge in coronavirus cases, he urged Ohioans voting in person to wear masks and follow health precautions.
At an American Legion Post in the Cleveland suburb of Parma, 44-year-old carpet installer Joe Gall said he voted for Trump, after voting for Clinton four years ago. Gall said he’s made more money this year than he has ever had, and he thinks the country has handled the pandemic as best it could.
“No one knows what to do,” he said. “It’s as good as it could be given the situation with everything shutting down and people afraid to go out.”
Lisa Factora-Borchers, 41, a writer from Worthington, said she voted in person Tuesday to ensure her vote for Biden was counted, and spent more time walking to her polling place than inside it.
“I consider Donald Trump the biggest threat to democracy and to the future of this country,” Factora-Borchers said, adding that she was voting against Trump as “a matter of human decency.”
Elections officials had reported record early turnout during the pandemic, with polls forecasting a toss-up presidential race.
Democrats also saw opportunities to cut into a 12-4 Republican advantage in the U.S. House delegation, which has held steady since GOP-controlled redistricting took hold in 2012. Public health professional Kate Schroder was in a tight race with 12-term Republican Rep. Steve Chabot in the Cincinnati area’s House District 1, with Democratic challengers within range in a handful of other House races with GOP incumbents.
Republicans were considered likely to hold on to their control of the Statehouse. Democrats drew hope from Republican then-House Speaker Larry Householder’s July indictment on federal bribery charges that could at least to cut into their veto-proof supermajorities in the state Senate (24-9) and House (61-38). Republicans ousted Householder from the speakership July 30 but he remained on the ballot.
___
Sewell reported from Cincinnati. Contributing to this report were Associated Press reporters Mark Gillispie in Cleveland, and Farnoush Amiri, a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Find AP’s full election coverage at APNews.com/Election2020.
