CLEVELAND — The voters in Iowa had the first say in the 2024 race for the White House with their caucuses on Monday. Attention now shifts to New Hampshire, a state slightly larger in population than Cuyahoga County, where Granite State voters will head to the polls in the first-in-the-nation primary next Tuesday.
Ohio’s March 19 primary still sits a bit down the calendar, two weeks after Super Tuesday on March 5, when 16 states and territories weigh in.
Because the Democrat's race was decided by the power of incumbency and the Republican contest could be wrapped up early as well, it’s possible that for the first time in years, Ohioans will have little say in the nomination process. That’s why folks like Stephaun Riley of Cleveland say he hasn’t even thought yet about the race.
“No not really,” he said. “But I’ll definitely give some thought into a little more, but not as of yet.”
Ohio was for years a true swing state, correctly voting for the winning President in every election from Lyndon Johnson through Donald Trump, a streak that was broken in 2020 with Trump’s 8-point victory in Ohio over the winner, Joe Biden. This is another indication that we won’t see the presidential candidates crisscrossing the state this year as if they were running for governor.
But that’s not to say Ohio won’t be in the national spotlight this year, while the state now falls into the “leans Republican” category, Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown is looking to buck that trend as he goes for a fourth term in the U.S. Senate. In his last election in 2018, Brown was able to split the vote in several key counties that went for both Republican Gov. Mike DeWine and the Democrat Brown.
The first contest all are watching is the battle for the Republican nomination to challenge Brown. The contest features businessman Bernie Moreno, State Senator Matt Dolan and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose. Moreno picked up the endorsement of former President Trump, which proved to be critical for Sen. J.D. Vance in his crowded 2022 primary race to fill the seat of retiring Sen. Rob Portman.
All three are running ads five weeks ahead of the start of early voting. Nick Mantz of Cleveland has seen them and told News 5 he plans to vote in the race. But as for who, he said, “I’m waiting to hear what these guys say.”
The deadline to register to vote is Feb. 20, with in-person early voting and vote by mail beginning on Feb. 21.
