By: Ryan Lafferty

If there were a national competition for the swingiest of swing states, Ohio would very likely win – and most likely in a blowout. As a state won convincingly by Obama and 2012 and then dominated by Trump in 2016, Ohio is a truly perennial swing state. Indeed, since 1964, the winner of the general election has won Ohio – a trend which held true four years ago, when Trump won the state 8 points, shocking pollsters, who had anticipated a much narrower race. But even a few months ago, it looked like Ohio might not be as much of a toss-up as in years past: in fact, Democrats even wrote Ohio off as not being a productive state to invest resources into. But more recently, the race has tightened up, and this year, it’s as close as ever, with many polls still showing a narrow – but by no means definitive – Trump edge.  Biden’s campaign hopes to exploit changing demographics within suburban Ohio, and to narrow the margins with rural voters – a group that Hillary Clinton struggled with in Ohio four years ago. Meanwhile, both President Trump and Vice President Pence have campaigned extensively in Ohio, seeking to court white voters, particularly this in rural areas.

But don’t get your hopes up for rapid results just yet – Ohio won’t officially release until three weeks after the election, since absentee ballots arriving as late as 10 days after Election Day will still be counted.