THE OHIO IMPACT

THE OHIO IMPACT

Presidency

Long considered a bellwether state, Ohio has played a major factor in deciding the presidency. Here are some Ohio presidential facts.

k Ohio’s presidential primary is March 4, two months earlier than nonpresidential-year primaries. Unlike many other states, Ohio refused to move its primary to Feb. 5. Because of that, 35 states will hold primaries, caucuses and conventions before Ohio’s primary.

k Ohio, along with four other states, will cast ballots in presidential primaries on a day that used to be called Super Tuesday, so named because several large states held primaries on the first Tuesday in March. In 2004, nine other states joined Ohio in holding primaries on Super Tuesday. Twenty-three states will hold presidential primaries, caucuses or conventions on Feb. 5, referred to as Super Duper Tuesday.

k Since 1860, when Abraham Lincoln was elected, no Republican has won the presidency without carrying Ohio.

k Since 1900, Ohioans voted for the presidential winner all but two times: Republican Thomas E. Dewey carried Ohio in 1944 against Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt; and Republican Richard M. Nixon in 1960 beat Democrat John F. Kennedy.

k Though Ohio has voted for the presidential winner 25 of 27 elections since 1900, it didn’t fare as well between 1804 and 1896. During that time, Ohio voted for the presidential winner 17 of 24 times.

k Mahoning and Trumbull, considered two of the most Democratic counties in Ohio, went Republican twice since 1948. Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower captured more votes in the two counties in his 1956 re-election victory over Democrat Adlai Stevenson as did Nixon in his 1972 re-election win over Democrat George S. McGovern.

k In 2004, President George W. Bush, a Republican, and Democrat John Kerry focused a great deal of attention on capturing Ohio’s 20 electoral votes. Bush won the state by 2.1 percent, 118,601 votes. If Kerry had won Ohio, he would have captured the presidency. He lost the electoral vote 286-252. If Ohio’s 20 electoral votes had gone to Kerry, the result would have been 272-266 for the Democrat.

Sources: The Ohio Politics Almanac, Vindicator files, various Web sites