Ohio certifies presidential, Senate race results - 21 News Now, More Local News for Youngstown, Ohio -

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio's elections chief has certified the results of the raucous, expensive presidential contest and other fall races.

Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted performed the task on Thursday.

After the months of intensive campaigning, Democratic President Barack Obama garnered 2,827,621 votes to Republican nominee Mitt Romney's 2,661,407 - or 50.2% to 47.3% of the vote in the bellwether state. No Republican has ever won the White House without Ohio, and few Democrats have.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, beat Republican challenger Josh Mandel (man-DEHL') by almost 327,000 votes. Independent candidate Scott Rupert garnered 250,000 votes in the heated Senate contest, which was more than the combined total of all five third-party presidential challengers.

Statewide voter turnout was 70.5%.

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