I am from another country. I have to say that in your movies and shows they have always painted Ohio as being a backwards state. I guess that this goes to show that everything changes. Now Ohio seems to be more civilized than a lot of other states that were the "modern" standard. I love change, it's so refreshing to see new generations at last making a change statewide.
Well, nearly half are. You still need a shit load of people to vote Republican, just simply declaring "it's gerrymandered" isn't enough. They still need the votes, and they get a lot in Ohio.
Ohio has more complex political environment than a lot of states. It sits on the border of a number of major geographic features, and host a relatively large, diverse population. It's swung hard right over the past decade as the Republicans embraced populism, but has always been more left-leaning than many of its neighbors. This state is a political and cultural circus, but I wouldn't have it any other way (well, a bit bluer would be nice).
It also features both some well populated cities (which trend left), but also a large rural population (which trends right). Between that and the gerrymandering, makes sense it's often a bit "confused".
There's probably some selection bias going on there. I used to work on the Michigan side of the Toledo border. It's not like night and day when you cross the border, but there are a lot of backwards assholes there. I thought I was going to move there but nah, I just commuted 200 miles a day to live far away.
Not quite. It's just that abortion is such a powerful issue that it activates the left to actually get out and vote. Any time it has been on a ballot, it wins, and democrats tend to win other positions on that same ballot.
It's also not a coincidence that recreational marijuana passed with nearly identical support. I think Issue 2 helped bring out another demographic that was already likely to support abortion access.
We'll likely see similar tactics in 2024. Especially as Biden is looking more and more like a weak candidate and that the DNC should have ran a proper primary...