ANALYSIS

though the party’s faithful and never-Trumpers flocked to the polls.

Led by Richard Cordray for governor, Democrats fielded a slate of well-funded candidates that seemingly ran energetic, engaged and well-funded campaigns. Sen. Sherrod Brown, who began his political career in 1974, frequently called it the strongest Democratic ticket of his lifetime.

In a “normal year,” Pepper consoled himself Wednesday, Cordray and the down-ticket statewide candidates would have rolled up winning vote totals amid the record midterm turnout of 4.3 million voters, which represented a more-thanrespectable 54.3 percent of eligible voters.

But Trump and his base of Ohio supporters ensured that 2018 was not a normal year as they showed up and crushed hopes of a blue wave in the Buckeye State, enhancing its deepening shade of red.

“If there is any place that is ground central for the Trump Republicans, it is Ohio. It’s the gift that keeps on giving,” said John Feehery, a GOP consultant and former senior U.S. House staffer.

Ohio native Kyle Kondik, managing editor of the newsletter Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said while Democrats performed better in Ohio than two years ago, “the changes from 2016 proved enduring in this campaign.”

Gov.-elect Mike DeWine and fellow Republicans will mark 24 out of the past 28 years tht the GOP has monopolized the statewide executive posts.

Races that were thought to be close were not, with a governor’s race rated as a tossup ending in a 4.2 percentagepoint win for two-term Attorney General DeWine.

Trump boasted at a Wednesday news conference in Washington that DeWine was trailing in the polls until he appeared on stage with the president for the first time ever at a Cleveland rally Monday. Actually polls were mixed, with virtually all showing the match-up within the polling margin of error.

“I went up there, and I did a rally, and they have now a great governor — you’re going to have a great governor in Ohio for, hopefully, a long period of time,” the president said.

“And I went up there for two reasons: Because I felt that his opposition was not a good person — and we know a lot about him — and I felt that Mike was a fantastic person.”

DeWine, a political fixture for more than four decades

with one of Ohio’s bestknown names, was asked if Trump, who values a GOP governor in Ohio ahead of his 2020 re-election bid, was overstating his impact. DeWine ducked. “I am very happy the president came in, I asked him to come and he did, and I’m very grateful for him doing that,” he replied. “In campaigns there are many, many things that matter. You’re never exactly sure what played what role.” Pepper did not duck. “The Trump turnout is what overcame our campaigns. We’re at a moment where Donald Trump can get his folks fired up — he did it (Tuesday).”

Nor did the Ohio spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, who issued a memo titled “Victory in Ohio.”

“Grassroots enthusiasm for President Trump was a crucial factor in these elections. This cycle, President Trump held rallies for Mike DeWine, (and victorious GOP Congressmen) Steve Chabot and Troy Balderson — and his support directly impacted voter enthusiasm and turnout,” the memo said.

With the exception of Brown, a Democrat who won his third term Tuesday, demoralized Democrats remain locked out of calling any of the shots. The party did win both Ohio Supreme Court seats up for grabs — ironically, races in which the candidates do not have party labels on the ballot.

A closer look at the election results shows the Democrats’ strength largely has been condensed to Ohio’s urban cores and Athens County, home of

Ohio University. Parts of the one-time party power base in the Mahoning Valley and once-reliable Appalachia have turned red. DeWine carried 79 counties to Cordray’s nine. The Democrat flipped only two counties — narrowly — that went to Trump in 2016: Lorain, west of Cleveland, and Trumbull in the Valley.

Cordray carried healthy margins out of Cleveland and Columbus and other urban counties, but was swamped by the cumulative — and frequent 70-percent-plus margins — DeWine rolled up in rural areas, smaller cities and suburban areas, parts of the state that also gave big margins to Trump.

“The problem is that some places that used to be pretty good for the Democrats, like Trumbull and Mahoning (counties), they are moving away,” Kondik said. Cordray won those counties, but not by the margins they once delivered for Democrats, he said.

“The three big urban counties (Cuyahoga, Franklin and Hamilton) are just not enough to make up for the rest of the state, which is moving red,” he added.

DeWine, who will take office Jan. 14 to succeed Trump foe John Kasich, felt the Republican enthusiasm, particularly on Sunday as he stood outside FirstEnergy stadium in Cleveland to greet voters before the Browns’ game.

Despite the tight polls, DeWine said, “It didn’t seem like it was 50-50 to me. It seemed like we were ahead. My gut instincts were better than the polls.”