Is Ohio officially a red state now?


Ohio has been a swing state on and off since at least 1888, but it looks today like it is on the cusp of becoming a red state — if it isn't already. In the midterm election on Tuesday, the GOP won or held all but one statewide race including governor, secretary of state, auditor, and treasurer, CNN's Andrew Kaczynski reports. Republicans have a 63-36 lock on the state house and a 10-6 hold of the state senate. They also have 12 of Ohio's 16 seats in the House of Representatives.
Ohio tends to flip-flop between presidential cycles; the state went for President Bill Clinton twice, George W. Bush twice, and Barack Obama twice. President Trump won in the state by 8 points in 2016.
Curiously, progressive Senate candidate Sherrod Brown was the only Democrat to break the Ohio red wave on Tuesday. "But the movement we saw with Ohio in 2016 only seems to be accelerating," Kaczynski tweeted.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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