President Donald Trump is expected to take Ohio with its 18 electoral votes in a solid victory flaunting Biden’s slight lead in the polls going into Election Day, the Associated Press reports.
Trump won Ohio in 2016 with 51 percent of the vote and a more than 8-point lead over Hillary Clinton. Polls gave Biden a slight edge going into 2020, however, according to the New York Times. Trump led Biden 53-45 with 89 percent of the votes counted at press time. Biden was off to an early lead thanks to out-performing Hillary Clinton among suburban voters. Trump stopped the bleeding and took the state by just over one point, according to the Associated Press.
Ohio, a must-win state for Trump, has been a key state in winning presidential elections for decades. It has chosen the winner in every presidential election since 1944, aside from President John F. Kennedy’s win against President Richard Nixon in 1960.
Trump and Biden both fought hard for the state, with Trump making three trips there between September 1 and November 3. Biden visited the state twice over the same period, although one of both Trump and Biden’s visits came as a result of the first presidential debate in Cleveland, Ohio. (RELATED: POLL: Trump And Biden Are Tied In Florida)
TOPSHOT – (COMBO) This combination of pictures created on September 29, 2020 shows US President Donald Trump (L) and Democratic Presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden squaring off during the first presidential debate at the Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio on September 29, 2020. (JIM WATSON and SAUL LOEB / AFP)
State election officials began reporting numbers at 8pm with votes cast prior to Election Day, either by mail or in-person at early voting places. (RELATED: Trump’s Self-Inflicted Wounds Make For An Unlikely Reelection, Forecasters Say)
The final tally in Ohio won’t be available until the end of November, and mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day have until November 13th to arrive to be counted.