ELECTORAL VOTES 20

2008 ELECTION Swing State

ABOUT
OHIO

Ohio was the first state admitted under the Northwest Ordinance, entering the Union in March 1803. It participated in its first presidential election in 1804. Ohio is a swing state, and has been a battleground in recent elections due to the closeness of the vote and its wealth of electoral votes (currently 20). This was particularly true in 2004, when Ohio put George W. Bush over the top in a close 2 percent victory over John Kerry. In recent elections, the Buckeye State has proved itself to be a remarkably good predictor of the election winner. Since 1944, Ohioans have sided with the losing candidate only once – opting for Nixon over Kennedy in 1960. Ohio has been losing population (relative to the country as a whole) and it may lose one or two electoral votes in 2012 as a result of the upcoming 2010 census.