As expected, Biden takes early Ohio lead with absentee ballots

By: Tyler Buchanan - November 3, 2020 8:42 pm

U.S. President Donald Trump and former Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden speak during the first presidential debate at the Health Education Campus of Case Western Reserve University on September 29, 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Morry Gash-Pool/Getty Images)

A swath of early absentee ballots have been tabulated in Ohio, with Joe Biden taking an early lead over Donald Trump here in the Buckeye State.

This was to be expected, as Democrats made up a disproportionate number of early voters with Republicans more apt to vote on Election Day.

More than 3 million votes have been tabulated as of 8:40 p.m., according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office, with some precincts now beginning to report their results. Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced Monday there were 3.4 million early votes recorded, nearly all of which have been included in this early count.

In the two Ohio Supreme Court races, Democratic challenger Jennifer Brunner leads Republican incumbent Justice Judi French by a percentage margin of 60 to 40, while Democratic challenger John O’Donnell and Republican incumbent Justice Sharon Kennedy are nearly tied.

We will have a better sense of these races and the slate of legislative contests as more results trickle in. You can follow the live results online here.

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Tyler Buchanan

Tyler Buchanan is an award-winning journalist who has covered Ohio politics and government for the past decade. A Bellevue native and graduate of Bowling Green State University, he most recently spent 6 1/2 years as a reporter and editor of The Athens Messenger and Vinton-Jackson Courier newspapers. He is a member of the BG News Alumni Society Board and was a 2019 fellow in the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism.