The latest Cook political report states that Ohio has switched out of the category of likely Republican to leaning Republican.' This means the partisan opinion of the state now leans more to the middle. 

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) said Ohio has historically been a battleground state. 

"The president won Ohio by a much bigger margin than anybody had predicted," said Gov. DeWine during his visit to Lordstown Motors Wednesday. 

With the election less than 5 months away, Radio 570 WKBN Host, Ron Verb, says the Valley could swing either way.

 

 

"People misread our community last time in the election," said Verb. "I think they were surprised how many people switched over and voted for Trump in the Mahoning Valley as well as Trumbull County." 

Trumbull County voted for Trump in 2016. That was the first time the county voted Republican since Richard Nixon in 1972.

 

Senator Sherrod Brown (D) said in an interview Thursday that President Trump has "opposed the minimum wage and taken away overtime pay for workers" and should not win Ohio's vote in November. 

"He's done nothing to make a workplace is safer," Senator Brown said. 

Kent State University Associate Professor, Daniel Chand, says the race will get tighter leading up to the election and it is up in the air as to how Ohio will swing.

"There are a lot of Republicans who are saying I'm sick of Trump,' but come November, a certain amount of them will pull the lever for him," Chand said. 

Chand said 95-98% of 2016 voters will vote for the same party come November.

"The vast majority of people don't flip," Chand said. "People who voted for Clinton in 2016 are going to vote for Biden."

Verb agrees it is hard to predict how Ohio will vote leading up to November. 

"The economy could get better, it could get worse," Verb said. "The coronavirus could get better, it could get worse. The stock market could get better, it could get worse. There's so many variables that are out there."