United States presidential elections in Ohio
Following is a table of United States presidential elections in Ohio, ordered by year. Since its admission to statehood in 1803, Ohio has participated in every U.S. presidential election.
 | |
| No. of elections | 55 |
|---|---|
| Voted Democratic | 16 |
| Voted Republican | 30 |
| Voted Whig | 3 |
| Voted Democratic-Republican | 6 |
| Voted other | 0 |
| Voted for winning candidate | 45 |
| Voted for losing candidate | 10 |
Ohio is considered a swing state, being won by either the Democratic or Republican candidates from election to election. As a swing state, Ohio is usually targeted by both major-party campaigns, especially in competitive elections.[1] Pivotal in the election of 1888, Ohio has been a regular swing state since 1980.[2][3]
Additionally, Ohio is considered a bellwether. Historian R. Douglas Hurt asserts that not since Virginia "had a state made such a mark on national political affairs".[4] The Economist notes that "This slice of the mid-west contains a bit of everything American—part north-eastern and part southern, part urban and part rural, part hardscrabble poverty and part booming suburb".[5] In the time since the Civil War, Ohio has had five misses (all Democratic winners nationally) in the Presidential election (Grover Cleveland in 1884 and 1892, Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944, John F. Kennedy in 1960, and Joe Biden in 2020), and it also had the longest perfect streak of any state, voting for the winning presidential candidate in each election from 1964 to 2016 — a streak that ended when Joe Biden won in 2020. No Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio, and since the advent of the duopoly two-party system, Democrats have won the presidency without winning Ohio only five times, in the elections noted above.
Winners of the state are in bold.
Party abbreviations:
- D = Democratic
- R = Republican
- D-R = Democratic-Republican
- Fed. = Federalist
- Prog. = Progressive (three distinct parties in 1912, 1924 and 1948, respectively)
- Am. Ind. = American Independent Party (1968)
- States' Rights D = States' Rights Democrats ("Dixiecrats") of 1948
- Lib. R = Liberal Republican Party ("Mugwumps") in 1872
- Const'l Union = Constitutional Union Party (1860)
- N. Dem = Northern Democratic Party (1860)
- S. Dem = Southern Democratic Party (1860)
- Nat'l R = National Republican Party (1828 & 1832, later merging into the Whig Party).
Elections from 1864 to present
| Year | Winner (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Other national candidates[lower-alpha 1] |
Votes | Percent | Electoral Votes |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020[6] | Joe Biden (D) | 2,679,165 | 45.24 | Donald Trump (R) | 3,154,834 | 53.27 | — | 18 | |||
| 2016 *[7] | Donald Trump (R) | 2,841,006 | 51.31 | Hillary Clinton (D) | 2,394,169 | 43.24 | — | 18 | * Clinton (D) won national popular vote 48.0% to 45.9% | ||
| 2012[8] | Barack Obama (D) | 2,827,710 | 50.67 | Mitt Romney (R) | 2,661,433 | 47.69 | — | 18 | |||
| 2008[9] | Barack Obama (D) | 2,940,044 | 51.50 | John McCain (R) | 2,677,820 | 46.91 | — | 20 | |||
| 2004[10] | George W. Bush (R) | 2,859,768 | 50.81 | John Kerry (D) | 2,741,167 | 48.71 | — | 20 | |||
| 2000 *[11] | George W. Bush (R) | 2,351,209 | 49.97 | Al Gore (D) | 2,186,190 | 46.46 | — | 21 | * Gore (D) won national popular vote, 48.4% to 47.9% | ||
| 1996[12] | Bill Clinton (D) | 2,148,222 | 47.38 | Bob Dole (R) | 1,859,883 | 41.02 | Ross Perot (Reform) | 483,207 | 10.66 | 21 | |
| 1992 | Bill Clinton (D) | 1,984,942 | 40.18 | George H. W. Bush (R) | 1,894,310 | 38.35 | Ross Perot | 1,036,426 | 20.98 | 21 | |
| 1988 | George H. W. Bush (R) | 2,416,549 | 55.00 | Michael Dukakis (D) | 1,939,629 | 44.15 | — | 23 | |||
| 1984 | Ronald Reagan (R) | 2,678,560 | 58.90 | Walter Mondale (D) | 1,825,440 | 40.14 | — | 23 | |||
| 1980 | Ronald Reagan (R) | 2,206,545 | 51.51 | Jimmy Carter (D) | 1,752,414 | 40.91 | John B. Anderson | 254,472 | 5.94 | 25 | |
| 1976 | Jimmy Carter (D) | 2,011,621 | 48.92 | Gerald Ford (R) | 2,000,505 | 48.65 | — | 25 | |||
| 1972 | Richard Nixon (R) | 2,441,827 | 59.63 | George McGovern (D) | 1,558,889 | 38.07 | — | 25 | |||
| 1968 | Richard Nixon (R) | 1,791,014 | 45.23 | Hubert Humphrey (D) | 1,700,586 | 42.95 | George Wallace (Am. Ind.) | 467,495 | 11.81 | 26 | |
| 1964 | Lyndon B. Johnson (D) | 2,498,331 | 62.94 | Barry Goldwater (R) | 1,470,865 | 37.06 | — | 26 | |||
| 1960 | John F. Kennedy (D) | 1,944,248 | 46.72 | Richard Nixon (R) | 2,217,611 | 53.28 | — | 25 | |||
| 1956 | Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) | 2,262,610 | 61.11 | Adlai Stevenson II (D) | 1,439,655 | 38.89 | T. Coleman Andrews/ Unpledged Electors[lower-alpha 2] | — | — | 25 | |
| 1952 | Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) | 2,100,391 | 56.76 | Adlai Stevenson II (D) | 1,600,367 | 43.24 | - | 25 | |||
| 1948 | Harry S. Truman (D) | 1,452,791 | 49.48 | Thomas E. Dewey (R) | 1,445,684 | 49.24 | Strom Thurmond (States' Rights D) | — | — | 25 | Henry Wallace (Prog.) won 1.3% of Ohio's votes |
| 1944 | Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) | 1,570,763 | 49.82 | Thomas E. Dewey (R) | 1,582,293 | 50.18 | — | 25 | |||
| 1940 | Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) | 1,733,139 | 52.2 | Wendell Willkie (R) | 1,586,773 | 47.8 | — | 26 | |||
| 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) | 1,747,140 | 57.99 | Alf Landon (R) | 1,127,855 | 37.44 | — | 26 | |||
| 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) | 1,301,695 | 49.88 | Herbert Hoover (R) | 1,227,319 | 47.03 | — | 26 | |||
| 1928 | Herbert Hoover (R) | 1,627,546 | 64.89 | Al Smith (D) | 864,210 | 34.45 | — | 24 | |||
| 1924 | Calvin Coolidge (R) | 1,176,130 | 58.33 | John W. Davis (D) | 477,888 | 23.7 | Robert M. La Follette (Prog.) | 357,948 | 17.75 | 24 | |
| 1920 | Warren G. Harding (R) | 1,182,022 | 58.47 | James M. Cox (D) | 780,037 | 38.58 | Parley P. Christensen (Farmer-Labor) | — | — | 24 | |
| 1916 | Woodrow Wilson (D) | 604,161 | 51.86 | Charles E. Hughes (R) | 514,753 | 44.18 | — | 24 | |||
| 1912 | Woodrow Wilson (D) | 424,834 | 40.96 | Theodore Roosevelt (Prog.) | 229,807 | 22.16 | William H. Taft (R) | 278,168 | 26.82 | 24 | National vote: D 41.8%, Prog 27.4% & R 23.2% |
| 1908 | William H. Taft (R) | 572,312 | 51.03 | William Jennings Bryan (D) | 502,721 | 44.82 | — | 23 | |||
| 1904 | Theodore Roosevelt (R) | 600,095 | 59.75 | Alton B. Parker (D) | 344,674 | 34.32 | — | 23 | |||
| 1900 | William McKinley (R) | 543,918 | 52.30 | William Jennings Bryan (D) | 474,882 | 45.66 | — | 23 | |||
| 1896 | William McKinley (R) | 525,991 | 51.86 | William Jennings Bryan (D & People's) | 477,497 | 47.08 | — | 23 | |||
| 1892 | Grover Cleveland (D) | 404,115 | 47.53 | Benjamin Harrison (R) | 405,187 | 47.66 | James B. Weaver (People's) | 14,850 | 1.75 | 23 | Electoral vote split 22 (Harrison) to 1 (Cleveland) |
| 1888 * | Benjamin Harrison (R) | 416,054 | 49.51 | Grover Cleveland (D) | 396,455 | 47.18 | — | 23 | * Cleveland (D) won national popular vote, 48.6% to 47.8% | ||
| 1884 | Grover Cleveland (D) | 368,280 | 46.94 | James G. Blaine (R) | 400,082 | 50.99 | — | 23 | |||
| 1880 | James A. Garfield (R) | 375,048 | 51.73 | Winfield S. Hancock (D) | 340,821 | 47.01 | James B. Weaver (Greenback Labor) | 6,456 | 0.89 | 22 | |
| 1876*[13] | Rutherford B. Hayes[lower-alpha 3] (R) | 330,698 | 50.21 | Samuel J. Tilden (D) | 323,182 | 49.07 | — | 22 | * Tilden (D) won a national popular majority, 50.9% to 47.9% | ||
| 1872 | Ulysses S. Grant (R) | 281,852 | 53.24 | Horace Greeley (D & Lib. R) | 244,321 | 46.15 | — | 22 | |||
| 1868 | Ulysses S. Grant (R) | 280,159 | 54.0 | Horatio Seymour (D) | 238,506 | 46.0 | — | 21 | |||
| 1864 | Abraham Lincoln (Nat'l Union) | 265,674 | 56.4 | George B. McClellan (D) | 205,609 | 43.6 | — | 21 |
Election of 1860
The election of 1860 was a complex realigning election in which the breakdown of the previous two-party alignment culminated in four parties each competing for influence in different parts of the country. The result of the election, with the victory of an ardent opponent of slavery, spurred the secession of eleven states and brought about the American Civil War.
| Year | Winner (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Electoral Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1860 | Abraham Lincoln (R) |
231,709 | 52.3 | Stephen A. Douglas (N. Dem.) |
187,421 | 42.3 | John C. Breckinridge (S. Dem.) |
11,406 | 2.6 | John Bell (Const'l Union) |
12,194 | 2.8 | 23 |
Elections from 1828 to 1856
| Year | Winner (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Other national candidates[lower-alpha 1] |
Votes | Percent | Electoral Votes |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1856 | James Buchanan (D) | 170,874 | 44.21 | John C. Frémont (R) | 187,497 | 48.51 | Millard Fillmore (American & Whig) | 28,126 | 7.28 | 23 | |
| 1852 | Franklin Pierce (D) | 168,933 | 47.83 | Winfield Scott (Whig) | 152,523 | 43.18 | John P. Hale (Free Soil) | 31,732 | 8.98 | 23 | |
| 1848 | Zachary Taylor (Whig) | 138,359 | 42.12 | Lewis Cass (D) | 154,773 | 47.12 | Martin Van Buren (Free Soil) | 35,347 | 10.76 | 23 | |
| 1844 | James K. Polk (D) | 149,061 | 47.74 | Henry Clay (Whig) | 155,113 | 49.68 | — | 23 | |||
| 1840 | William Henry Harrison (Whig) | 148,157 | 54.1 | Martin Van Buren (D) | 124,782 | 45.57 | — | 21 | |||
| 1836 | Martin Van Buren (D) | 96,238 | 47.56 | William Henry Harrison (Whig) | 104,958 | 51.87 | various[lower-alpha 4] | 21 | |||
| 1832 | Andrew Jackson (D) | 81,246 | 51.33 | Henry Clay (Nat'l R) | 76,539 | 48.35 | William Wirt (Anti-Masonic) | 509 | 0.32 | 21 | |
| 1828 | Andrew Jackson (D) | 67,596 | 51.6 | John Quincy Adams (Nat'l R) | 63,453 | 48.4 | — | 16 |
Election of 1824
The election of 1824 was a complex realigning election following the collapse of the prevailing Democratic-Republican Party, resulting in four different candidates each claiming to carry the banner of the party, and competing for influence in different parts of the country. The election was the only one in history to be decided by the House of Representatives under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution after no candidate secured a majority of the electoral vote. It was also the only presidential election in which the candidate who received a plurality of electoral votes (Andrew Jackson) did not become President, a source of great bitterness for Jackson and his supporters, who proclaimed the election of Adams a corrupt bargain.
| Year | Winner (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Runner-up (nationally) | Votes | Percent | Electoral Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1824 | Andrew Jackson (D-R) | 12,280 | 24.55 | John Quincy Adams (D-R) | 18,489 | 36.96 | Henry Clay (D-R) | 19,255 | 38.49 | William H. Crawford (D-R) | no ballots | 16 |
Note: The national popular vote (from 18 of 24 states, the other six had electors chosen by the state legislature) was Jackson 41.36%, Adams 30.92%, Clay 12.99% and Crawford 11.21%. After none of the candidates had a majority on the electoral college, Adams won the contingent election in the House of Representatives.
Elections from 1804 to 1820
In the election of 1820, incumbent President James Monroe ran effectively unopposed, winning all eight of Ohio’s electoral votes, and all electoral votes nationwide except one vote in New Hampshire. To the extent that a popular vote was held, it was primarily directed to filling the office of Vice President.
| Year | Winner (nationally) | Loser(s) (nationally) | Electoral Votes |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1820 | James Monroe (D-R) | — | 8 | Monroe effectively ran unopposed. |
| 1816 | James Monroe (D-R) | Rufus King (Fed.) | 8 | |
| 1812 | James Madison (D-R) | DeWitt Clinton (Fed./D-R Fusion) | 7 | |
| 1808 | James Madison (D-R) | Charles C. Pinckney (Fed.) | 3 | |
| 1804 | Thomas Jefferson (D-R) | Charles C. Pinckney (Fed.) | 3 |
References
- "The Odds of an Electoral College-Popular Vote Split Are Increasing". FiveThirtyEight. 2016-11-01. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved 2016-11-06.
- Trolling the Campuses for Swing-State Votes Archived May 28, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, Julie Salamon, "The New York Times", October 2, 2004
- Game Theory for Swingers Archived February 1, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Jordan Ellenberg, "Slate.com", October 25, 2004
- Holli (1999), p. 162.
- " A grain of sand for your thoughts" Archived February 26, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, The Economist, December 20, 2005. Retrieved December 23, 2005.
- "Presidential Election Results: Biden Wins". The New York Times. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
- 2016 official Federal Election Commission report.
- 2012 official Federal Election Commission report.
- 2008 official Federal Election Commission report.
- "Federal Elections 2004: Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives" (PDF). Federal Elections Commission. May 2005.
- "2000 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
- "1996 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
- David Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections; Ohio, 1876
Notes
- For purposes of these lists, other national candidates are defined as those who won at least one electoral vote, or won at least ten percent of the vote in multiple states.
- Was allied with a slate of unpledged electors in Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina
- Won the electoral college while losing the popular vote
- Three other candidates ran and received electoral votes nationally as part of the unsuccessful Whig strategy to defeat Martin Van Buren by running four candidates with local appeal in different regions of the country. The others were Hugh Lawson White, Daniel Webster, and Willie Person Mangum. None of these candidates appeared on the ballot in Ohio.