The latest episode of The Map Room is out on Old Bull TV! This week, Eric Cunningham (@decunningham2) and Jared Stone (@JStonePolitics) discuss Ohio. Long a swing state at the federal level, Ohio is perhaps the most traditional “bellwether state”. Ohio broke heavily for Republicans in 2016, however, leading some to discount it as a swing state. Recent polls indicate, though, that the state seems to be more competitive this cycle.
The hosts explain all you need to know about the basics of Ohio politics: the divide between the urban and rural areas, the large number of metropolitan areas (ranging from Cleveland to Cincinnati to Columbus), the strong white working-class vote, and the surprising Republican edge at the state level. They also discuss most of the major races this century and the presidential trends going back decades.
Major emphasis is placed on the diverging trends that showed in 2016: reddening rurals, like in Appalachia, and rapidly-bluing urban areas like Cincinnati and Columbus. The number of competitive urban areas is also surprising. If Democrats want to regain strength in the state, they’ll need to hold down the rural margins while gaining in urban Ohio.
You can find the full episode of The Map Room on YouTube below. If you prefer, you can also listen to it in audio form at Apple Podcasts, PodBay, or PodBean. You can find a full list of episodes at oldbull.tv. Be sure to subscribe to Old Bull TV so you can catch the show each week, and if you liked it be sure to like the episode on YouTube and give it a five-star review wherever you get your podcasts!
