Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump clinched his victory in Ohio with support topping 60 percent in 67 of Ohio's 88 counties. Democratic rival Hillary Clinton had the strongest support in the urban areas of Columbus, Cleveland, and Toledo. For months, polls showed Ohio was Trump's best chance at winning a swing state. The vote totals show Trump won Ohio by a margin beyond what pollsters had predicted. Ohio Public Radio's Andy Chow reports.
There was a sense of nervous anticipation floating around Capitol Square where
Republicans were split among three different election watch parties. But once
Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump took Ohio, the momentum started rolling
his way nationwide, and his supporters were ready to party.
NATS: Cheers NATS
One-by-one cable news networks rattled off projected wins for Trump and each time
the crowd grew louder and more ecstatic.
Trump’s Ohio Campaign Director Bob Paduchik says the real estate mogul turned
politician rewrote the book on how to rally voters in the state.
Paduchik: “It’s nothing short of a phenomena. It’s more a movement than a political
campaign. I think a lot of political science disertations are going to be written
about the 2016 election cycle and I think people are going to learn some new
lessons.”
Up the road about a block away from the Trump party, Ohio Republican Party Chairman
Matt Borges made a somewhat anti-climactic, one-sentence announcement.
Borges: “I just wanted to report that a few minutes ago I called Donald Trump and
congratulated him on winning Ohio.”
That was it.
It’s no secret that there’s a clear division among Trump supporters and the state’s
top Republican leaders. It started with Gov. John Kasich refusing to endorse the
nominee. Though U.S. Sen. Rob Portman did endorse him at first, he later reversed
that decision. Borges also wavered but eventually announced he was still standing
behind the nominee.
What’s not clear is where the Ohio Republican Party goes from here.
Republican Representative Andrew Brenner of Delaware was one of the first
legislators to fully back Trump after he won the nomination. Brenner believes unity
among the party can be achieved.
Brenner: “I think they’re going to pull back together I mean they’re gonna have to
the Republicans in the Republican primary they spoke now here in Ohio in the General
Election with a clear majority I think that this is something where we’ll come back
and it may take a little bit of time but I think it’ll happen.”
As fractured as the Republican Party may be in Ohio, the Democrats will likely go
through a much worse post-election phase. Ohio Democrats have had years of big
losses going back to the 2010 sweep of statewide offices.
When the state was called for Trump but before he won nationwide, Ohio Democratic
Party Chair David Pepper didn’t sugar coat the position his party was in.
Pepper: “We’re going to have to do a lot of soul searching by what may happen
tonight we’re going to have a lot of work to do it may call on us to be stronger and
tougher than we’ve ever been if Mr. Trump is actually elected president.”
Ohio’s role in this year’s presidential race seemed to be diminishing about a month
ago but the contest remained close until Election Day. Paduchik says this proves the
saying, as Ohio goes so does the nation.
Paduchik: “Ohio’s a microcosm of the nation if you can win well in Ohio it’s like
campaigning in a state of city states so if you can do well here you’re doing well
in other parts of the nation and that’s why Ohio will always be a bellwether state.”
Inside Trump’s election watch party, supporters begin to talk about the impact
Trump’s presidency will have on statewide issues, such as how his stance against the
Clean Power Plan and ObamaCare could impact Ohio’s green energy standards and
Medicaid expansion.
