How Ohio voted for president, broken down by county
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- For the third straight election, Ohio has overwhelmingly chosen former President Donald Trump to lead the United States for the next four years.
Trump will add Ohio’s 17 electoral votes to his tally, one less than in 2020 due to the results of the last census.
In unofficial results with 98% of the vote counted, Trump is leading 55.3% to 43.9%, about an 11-point margin.
A Trump win solidly keeps the state that went blue for both presidencies in the Bill Clinton and Barack Obama years on the side of Republicans.
Trump was joined on the Republican ticket with a running mate from Ohio, Sen. J.D. Vance, making the choice after statewide elections in 2023 led to some liberal-leaning policies taking effect, including an amendment enshrining abortion rights, the passage of recreational-use marijuana and a special election loss of a Republican-led effort to increase the threshold needed to pass constitutional amendments.
Trump carried Ohio by margins of 8% over President Joe Biden when he lost in 2020 and over former secretary of state Hillary Clinton when he won in 2016.
In 2020, Trump won more votes in Ohio than any other presidential candidate in history – topping 3.1 million votes. It beat a record set in 2008 by Barack Obama, who had 2,940,044. The last presidential election also saw the highest turnout for a presidential race in 120 years, when 66.9% of eligible voters cast their ballots. It was the first time since 1900 that voter turnout reached that percentage.
How central Ohio voted
While it will take until all the votes are counted to see if Harris made inroads for Democrats statewide, it was the pockets around the state's largest cities that trended blue surrounded by a sea of red.
With 99% of the vote counted, Harris was leading Trump in Franklin County, 63.7% to 35.3%, holding the trend seen in 2020. To varying degrees, the same remains true across the state, with Hamilton (56.8% to 42.2%), Montgomery (49.6% to 49.4%), Lucas (55.6% to 43.5%), Cuyahoga (65.3% to 34%), Athens (54.8% to 44.4%), and Summit (56.8% to 42.3%) counties all trending blue.
In 2020, Biden carried Franklin County 64.9% to 33.5%. It was a trend that carried through to other urban parts of the state: 57.2% to 41.3% in Hamilton County (Cincinnati), 50.3% to 48.1% in Montgomery County (Dayton), 57.5% to 40.8% in Lucas County (Toledo), 66.5% to 32.4% in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), 54.1% to 44.5% in Summit County (Akron), and 56.7% to 41.7% in Athens County (Athens). The rest of the state's counties all went for Trump.
Just to the north of Franklin County, Delaware County swung to Trump, 52.8% to 46.2%, with 99% of the vote in, an approximate 6% margin -- nearly identical to his 2020 vote, 52.6% to 45.8%. However, it fell below Trump's statewide margin of about 11% and the 8% he pulled in 2020 and 2016.
How Clark County voted
One of the major controversies in the election cycle was unfounded comments made by Trump and Vance regarding the Haitian migrant population of Springfield, which is the seat of Clark County.
The city, which had a 2022 population of 58,000, became a lightning rod in September after the Republican ticket claimed that migrants – most of whom were there legally – were stealing and eating the pets of residents. The remarks, repeated later on the campaign trail, led to bomb threats, police sweeps of city schools and elected officials refuting and condemning the comments, including Springfield Mayor Rob Rue and Gov. Mike DeWine, both Republicans.
With 100% of precincts counted, the former president tops Harris 64.06% to 34.74%, according to unofficial results -- 39,636 to 21,494. There are 87,957 registered voters in Clark County, with 62,555 ballots cast -- a 71% turnout.
Tuesday's result was an increase for Trump over his 2020 performance when he carried the county 60.8% to 37.5% -- 39,032 to 24,076 votes.