Ohio Democratic primary, 2016
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The 2016 Ohio Democratic presidential primary took place on March 15 in the U.S. state of Ohio as one of the Democratic Party's primaries prior to the
2016 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kirib ...
. The same day, the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...
held primaries in Florida, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina, while the
Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...
held primaries in the same five states and a caucus in the Northern Mariana Islands, as well as their own Ohio primary. Clinton handily won the primary, putting her upset Rust Belt loss in Michigan behind her. She earned congressional endorsements from Reps. Tim Ryan,
Joyce Beatty Joyce Marie Beatty (; née Birdsong, March 12, 1950) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Ohio's 3rd congressional district since 2013, and as chair of the Congressional Black Caucus since 2021. A member of the Democrat ...
,
Marcia Fudge Marcia Louise Fudge (born October 29, 1952) is an American attorney and politician serving as the 18th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, United States secretary of housing and urban development since 2021. A member of the D ...
and Sen. Sherrod Brown, while Sanders earned one Ohio backer, Rep.
Marcy Kaptur Marcia Carolyn Kaptur (; born June 17, 1946) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 1983. A member of the Democratic Party, Kaptur is the longest-serving woman in either chamber of Congress, and the second-longest ...
.


Background

By the time Ohio held its primaries, voters from 21 states and two territories already cast their vote for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party. As of the March 12 elections, Hillary Clinton was projected to have earned 775 pledged delegates to Bernie Sanders' 552. Clinton gained significant victories in the Southern United States, often described as her "firewall", including landslide victories in Mississippi and Alabama and Georgia. Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders gained victories in the Midwestern United States, where Ohio resides, including an upset victory in neighboring Michigan on March 8. After the fact, Sanders' campaign took advantage of the momentum gained from the Michigan win, by targeting Illinois, Missouri and Ohio in the March 15 elections, hoping to repeat the same result. Sanders stated that "Not only is Michigan the gateway to the rest of the industrial Midwest, the results there show that we are a national campaign." Before the Michigan primaries, Clinton and Sanders had debated over economic policies relating to the industrial midwest states and the so-called " rust belt". The disagreements centered around trade deals, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Clinton's past support of the
North American Free Trade Agreement The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...
, and its effect on economies such as Michigan and Ohio.


Controversy

Ohio is one of at least seventeen states that has laws allowing voters who are 17 years of age, but will be 18 by the time of the
general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
, to vote in the presidential primaries. However, Ohio Secretary of State
Jon A. Husted Jon A. Husted (born August 25, 1967) is an American politician serving as the 66th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, lieutenant governor of Ohio, since 2019. He was previously the 53rd Ohio Secretary of State. A member of the Republican Party (United S ...
had announced in December 2015 that 17 year olds would be outright barred from participating in the 2016 primaries. The rationale for the decision was based on an interpretation of the law in which 17 year olds could "nominate" officials for office, but not "elect". In the case of the presidential primaries, by definition, voters would be electing officials - delegates to each party's
presidential nominating convention A United States presidential nominating convention is a political convention held every four years in the United States by most of the political parties who will be fielding nominees in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. The formal purp ...
. The decision was met with criticism by the public, after it was brought to mainstream attention by Representative
Kathleen Clyde Kathleen Clyde (born May 18, 1979) is a former member of the Ohio House of Representatives who represented the 75th District from 2011 to 2018. Early life and career Clyde is originally from Garrettsville, Ohio. She was the valedictorian of her ...
, after she condemned the rule in a statement released on March 5. Clyde described it as a "underhanded, backroom attack" against young voters. Nine teenagers filed a lawsuit with the Ohio Courts of Common Pleas in Franklin County over the decision, stating that the decision contradicted state law and a decision by the
Supreme Court of Ohio The Ohio Supreme Court, Officially known as The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a ...
that allowed 17 year olds turning 18 by the general election to vote. Bernie Sanders' campaign, whose voter base includes the majority of young voters, also filed a lawsuit against the decision, accusing Husted of "arbitrarily" and "unconsititutionally" discriminating against young African-American and
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
voters, citing data from the
2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...
that shows younger voters in Ohio where mostly African-American and
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
. Husted, in response to Sanders' lawsuit, said in a public statement that he welcomed the lawsuit, further stating that "I am very happy to be sued on this issue because the law is crystal clear", though, he later spoke out negatively against the lawsuit, claiming that it was "a last-minute political act", designed to "draw attention to his campaign." Many Ohio officials, past and present, such as former Ohio Secretary of State
Jennifer Brunner Jennifer Lee Brunner (born February 5, 1957) is an American attorney, politician and judge. She is currently an associate justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, a position to which she was elected after serving as a judge on Ohio's Tenth District C ...
, came out in support of Sanders' lawsuit, and had attracted protests by not only Bernie Sanders supporters, but also Donald Trump supporters as well. In a decision handed down on March 11, an Ohio state judge ruled in favour of both lawsuits by the teenage group and the Sanders campaign, effectively lifting the ban on 17 year olds from voting in the Ohio presidential primaries. Husted initially announced that he would appeal the ruling, however, after learning that such an appeal wouldn't be heard by the court until the day before the primaries, he retracted his intent to appeal.


Debates and forums

March 13, 2016 – Columbus, Ohio The ninth forum was held at 8:00 pm EDT on March 13, 2016, at the campus of Ohio State University in
Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
, and aired on CNN. March 14, 2016 – Columbus, Ohio and Springfield, Illinois The tenth forum was held at 6:00 pm EDT on March 14, 2016, at the campus of Ohio State University in
Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
, and at the
Old State Capitol State Historic Site (Illinois) The Old State Capitol State Historic Site, in Springfield, Illinois, is the fifth capitol building built for the U.S. state of Illinois. It was built in the Greek Revival style in 1837–1840, and served as the state house from 1840 to 1876.
in
Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...
. It aired on MSNBC. The first section of the town hall with Bernie Sanders was moderated by Chuck Todd; the second section of the town hall with Hillary Clinton was moderated by
Chris Matthews Christopher John Matthews (born December 17, 1945) is an American political commentator, retired talk show host, and author. Matthews hosted his weeknight hour-long talk show, ''Hardball with Chris Matthews'', on America's Talking and later on M ...
.


Opinion polling


Results


Results by county


Analysis

Clinton received a commanding win in the Ohio primary which mirrored her
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
performance. Clinton won the white vote 53-47 which comprised 74% of the Ohio electorate. She also won the African American vote, 71–28. And while Sanders won men 51-48 and voters under the age of 45 65–34, Clinton won women 63-36 (including white women 61-38 who made up 41% of the electorate, and won both married and unmarried women) and she won older voters 70–29. She swept all income levels and educational attainment levels in the Buckeye State. She also won unions, an important demographic in the industrial Rust Belt, by a margin of 55–45. In terms of political ideology, Clinton swept all groups: liberals, moderates, and conservatives. She won Democrats 64–35, but lost Independents 66–33 to Sanders. Clinton swept most counties in the state, winning urban areas 61–38,
suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
an areas 63–36, and rural areas by a modest 51–48. Clinton won in the Cleveland area 63–35, in Northern Ohio 57–43, in the Ohio Valley and Western Ohio 52–47, in the
Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...
area 52–47, and in Cincinnati/
Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...
, 55–45.


References

{{2016 Democratic primaries Ohio Democratic primary
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