Frank Lewis

PDT Staff Writer

Scioto County may be turning red. For the second consecutive presidential election, the county broke with both Ohio and the nation. Barack Obama was declared the winner of Ohio, and the rest of the nation around 11 p.m., and at the same time, Scioto County was going for Mitt Romney by the slimmest of margins. The final numbers locally showed Romney picking up 49.87 percent of the vote, while Obama finished the evening with 47.91 percent. The final county vote count was 15,023 to 14,432.

For 76 years, as Scioto County has voted, so too voted Ohio, and the nation usually followed. Four years ago, for the first time since Franklin D. Roosevelt beat Herbert Hoover in 1932, Scioto County split with the state. It turns out they repeated that split Tuesday night.

According to the GeoElections website, Scioto County voted for Republican Herbert Hoover in 1932; and according to the Ohio Secretary of State website, the state went for Roosevelt. A similar pattern was found in 2008 when Scioto County voters favored Republican John McCain over Obama. Voters did that again Tuesday night by going for Romney.

When the smoke cleared Tuesday night, Obama won Ohio on Tuesday, capturing the electoral battleground that Romney needed more than any other in his quest to oust the Democratic incumbent, according to exit polls for the Associated Press and news networks.

By laying claim to Ohio’s 18 electoral votes, Obama all but ensured his re-election after a grueling campaign against his Republican rival, the former governor of Massachusetts. Shortly after declaring Ohio for Obama, most news outlets declared the nation for the incumbent.

Frank Lewis may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 252, or at flewis@heartlandpublications.com