TOLEDO, Ohio — Northwest Ohio is home to four of nine "pivot counties" in the state that voted for now-President Donald Trump in the 2016 election after previously voting for President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, according to Ballotpedia.
Those counties are Wood County, Ottawa County, Sandusky County and Erie County. The state did not have any "reverse-pivot counties," which are counties that voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton after previously voting for Republicans John McCain (2008) and Mitt Romney (2012).
Since 1960, pivot counties in Ohio have matched the national election result in 76.3% of presidential elections. The nine total pivot counties from 2016 represent 13.95% of the Ohio population.
Also of note: In every local county except for Lucas County, the Republican vote has grown since the 2008 presidential election. In Lucas County, the Democratic vote is still the majority, but its percentage has shrunk.
Here are how northwest Ohio counties voted party-wise, along with voter turnout when available, in presidential elections since 2008:
Erie County
2008: 56% Democrat, 43% Republican
2012: 54.8% Democrat, 43.5% Republican
2016: 42.4% Democrat, 51.9% Republican *PIVOT COUNTY
Ottawa County
2008: 51.32% Democrat, 45.23% Republican; 77.15% turnout
2012: 51.11% Democrat, 46.83% Republican; 74.2% turnout
2016: 37.01% Democrat, 56.52% Republican; 76.24% turnout *PIVOT COUNTY
Sandusky County
2008: 51% Democrat, 47% Republican
2012: 49.8% Democrat, 47.9% Republican
2016: 35.1% Democrat, 57.7% Republican *PIVOT COUNTY
Wood County
2008: 52.61% Democrat, 45.5% Republican; 63.95% turnout
2012: 51.21% Democrat, 46.37% Republican; 59.6% turnout
2016: 42.14% Democrat, 50.13% Republican; 69.87% turnout *PIVOT COUNTY
Defiance County
2008: 43.67% Democrat, 54.11% Republican; 73.30% turnout
2012: 42.16% Democrat, 55.49% Republican; 71.6% turnout
2016: 29.26% Democrat, 63.70% Republican; 72.62% turnout
Fulton County
2008: 45% Democrat, 53% Republican
2012: 42.58% Democrat, 55.08% Republican; 73.34% turnout
2016: 28.42% Democrat, 64.2% Republican; 74.38% turnout
Hancock County
2008: 37.43% Democrat, 60.5% Republican; 68.66% turnout
2012: 35.11% Democrat, 62.72% Republican; 65.7% turnout
2016: 26.52% Democrat, 66.74% Republican; 72.36% turnout
Henry County
2008: 42% Democrat, 56% Republican
2012: 39.69% Democrat, 57.92% Republican; 70.4% turnout
2016: 26.73% Democrat, 66.19% Republican; 73.6% turnout
Lucas County
2008: 64.8% Democrat, 33.43% Republican; 70% turnout
2012: 64.86% Democrat, 33.21% Republican; 68.3% turnout
2016: 55.74% Democrat, 38.07% Republican; 68.13% turnout
Putnam County
2008: 28% Democrat, 70% Republican
2012: 23.4% Democrat, 74.8% Republican
2016: 15.5% Democrat, 79.3% Republican
Seneca County
2008: 47.5% Democrat, 50.17% Republican; 76.52% turnout
2012: 44.8% Democrat, 52.26% Republican; 70.51% turnout
2016: 30.62% Democrat, 61.30% Republican; 71.42% turnout
Williams County
2008: 44.43% Democrat, 53.7% Republican; 67.49% turnout
2012: 41.03% Democrat, 56.75% Republican; 71.64% turnout
2016: 25.18% Democrat, 68.98% Republican; 71.99% turnout
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