Joe Biden projected to win Ohio Democratic primary
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Joe Biden's victory in Ohio was a foregone conclusion long before votes were tallied Tuesday, but Ohio voters appeared to have sealed the deal.
The Associated Press called the race for Biden around 8 p.m. Tuesday. Biden was leading Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential primary with 73% of the 48,167 votes counted by 8:15 p.m. Tuesday night, according to unofficial, early election results.
President Donald Trump, the only Republican on Ohio's ballot, had 86,444 votes among the 23 counties that had reported their results.
Counties have been instructed to upload results just once on Election Night instead of precinct by precinct.
Most of Biden's competitors had exited the race before Ohio's March 17 primary, which was converted into a vote-by-mail primary with an April 28 deadline.
While Ohioans hunkered down to avoid spreading the novel coronavirus, the Democrats' presidential campaigns did, too. Sanders dropped out of the race on April 8 and endorsed Biden five days later.
The two barely campaigned here. Both had scheduled rallies in Cleveland on March 10. They were canceled hours before scheduled, as state officials warned against attending large gatherings.
Biden will capture the majority of Ohio’s 136 delegates. Sanders could snag a few; Democrats allot most delegates to the state’s popular vote winner but also choose 89 delegates by congressional district. Those won’t be known until Wednesday, at the earliest.
Ohio for Bernie, a grassroots group supporting Sanders, issued a statement Monday saying it could not support or endorse Biden over Trump. The group said it hopes the Biden campaign acknowledges sexual assault accusations from former Biden senatorial staffer Tara Reade and makes his platform more progressive.
Ohio's battleground state status was already in limbo prepandemic. Trump won Ohio by 8 points in 2016.
It’s hard to take anything from a primary election to project toward a general – they’re two different animals. Ohio has a semi-open primary. Voters declare party affiliation by the primary ballot they request. They are considered affiliated with that party until they choose a different party’s ballot.
Add to that a last-minute pivot to a mail-only primary and a noncompetitive race at the top of GOP ticket.
But Democrats were quick to point to recent polls and Tuesday’s results as good news for November.
Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper said Tuesday’s turnout was lower than expected due to the cancellation of in-person voting but resulted in more Democrats voting than Republicans and thousands of Republicans “switching” parties.
“We know and Trump knows that when Ohio turns blue, we become the state that ends the Trump presidency,” Pepper said.
A poll released this week from Baldwin Wallace, Oakland and Ohio Northern universities showed Biden leading Trump 44.9%. to 44.2% – a virtual tie. At this point in 2012, Democrat Hillary Clinton led Trump in an average of Ohio polls by 4 points.
A Trump campaign spokesman painted Biden as too far left for Ohio voters.
“As President Trump continues to keep his promises and deliver results for the American people, Ohio Democrats have officially embraced socialism by throwing their support behind Joe Biden," Trump Victory spokesman Dan Lusheck said in a statement. "Come November, Ohioans will make their voices heard loud and clear when they say ‘yes’ to four more years and reelect President Trump."
Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, said Biden will campaign well in places that swung toward Trump in 2016, including the Mahoning Valley area he represents.
“If you can play well there, then you can play well in Marion and Steubenville and a lot of other places in Ohio and also Flint, Michigan, and Milwaukee and those are states we need to win,” Ryan said.