State that picked last 14 presidential election winners declared

Ohio has picked the winner of every presidential election since 1964 – and it’s just been called for the 2020 race. Find out who it is.

Multiple reports suggest that US President Donald Trump has won the critical battleground state of Ohio, which has predicted the past 14 presidential elections.

While it was named as a state that could be flipped by Joe Biden earlier today, things have taken a turn – with Mr Trump now leading Mr Biden 53.3 per cent to 45.2 per cent. Almost 90 per cent of the state’s votes have now been counted.

Fox News, CNN, NBC, Reuters and Bloomberg are among the outlets reporting the President has been victorious.

The person that wins Ohio has gone on to become President at every election since 1964. The next best state is Florida, which has picked six.

Winning the state means Mr Trump has “cleared a major electoral hurdle in his quest for a second term”, Fox News’chief political anchor Bret Baier tweeted.

CNN has just called Ohio for Trump. Absolutely critical state.

— Leigh Sales (@leighsales) November 4, 2020

BREAKING: Donald Trump wins Ohio, NBC News projects. https://t.co/rygBIiXyoh pic.twitter.com/NZUI9pSCSE

— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 4, 2020

Trump wins Ohio. He’ll win North Carolina and Texas shortly. So if he wins Pennsylvania he’s in.

— Bill O'Reilly (@BillOReilly) November 4, 2020

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE ELECTION’S OUTCOME

There may be 50 states in America, but when the votes are counted, just a handful of them – Ohio included – decide who wins the presidential election.

In this election, 15 states fall into the category of a “swing state” or “battleground state” – meaning they could conceivably be won by either Donald Trump or Joe Biden.

As for the rest, we already know who will win them: Mr Trump stands no chance whatsoever in Democratic Party strongholds like New York and California, for example, while he’s likely unbeatable in heavily Republican territory, like Alabama or Oklahoma.

Ohio, with its chunky haul of 18 electoral votes, was widely seen as Mr Trump’s strongest swing state. And that is very good news for him, given it is also the nation’s most reliable bellwether.

It has voted with the winning candidate in 14 straight elections, going all the way back to Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

Four years ago, Mr Trump beat Hillary Clinton by eight per cent in Ohio, and the polls show him leading Mr Biden there as well – albeit by a much, much thinner margin.

The ultimate goal is to reach a threshold of 270 electoral votes. Winning the popular vote in any given state will earn a candidate its entire haul of electoral votes, and move them that much closer to victory.