SANDUSKY COUNTY, Ohio — It’s the home of our 19th president, Rutherford B. Hayes, and come November, Sandusky County will once again play a big role in presidential politics.
The county went to President Obama twice, but in 2016, pivoted its support to Donald Trump.
“I think the economy is important, but I think there is so many other things going on right now that it’s not going to be like ’92, when it was, It’s the economy, stupid,'” Sandusky County Republican Chairman Justin Smith said. “I predict he, Trump, wins the county by 58% of the vote, that’s my gut feeling.”
Trump won the county by more than 22 points in 2016 and there are 5,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats in Sandusky County.
The national polls currently have the President trailing Joe Biden on average by almost eight points.
But despite how the polls look now, come Election Day veteran and former Democrat Lonnie Burke will be showing his support for Donald Trump.
“Polls don’t mean nothing to me,” Burke said. “I think they’ve picked the wrong person for president. Joe Biden was already there for eight years and now all of a sudden he’s going to fix all this stuff.”
But Sandusky County Democratic Chairman and State Representative candidate Chris Liebold says Joe Biden does have appeal in a county carried by President Barack Obama twice.
“There are people who voted for Donald Trump who are now leaning Biden because they didn’t like the rhetoric of Donald Trump,” Liebold said.
Fremont NAACP President Dr. Regina Vincent-Williams in one resident not on board with the rhetoric.
In a county with a black population of less than 4%, she hopes the former vice president picks a black woman to join the ticket.
“For sure, in this climate, we need to have a black female as vice president,” Vincent-Williams said.
