Why did Ohio shift so hard right in the 2010’s?

[Alcibiades]

Ohio has always leaned Republican relative to the nation (although much less so than now), bit it used to be for very different reasons. The rural western and central parts of the state were some of the staunchest, most ancestrally Republican areas anywhere, and the cities were also pretty conservative; Cincinnati was blood red, one of the most Republican metros in the country, while Columbus was also fairly reliable for the GOP. This was offset by Dem strength in the industrial cities in the north of the state and in Appalachia.

Now, Dems have basically collapsed everywhere outside of the cities (and even inside the cities in the case of some of them in the northeast). The trends in much of the rural portion of the state (particularly Appalachia/The Ohio River Valley) make rural Wisconsin’s direction of travel look like the Atlanta suburbs.

[TJ in Oregon]

Ohio has been trending right because aside from Greater Columbus and rural areas the state has been hemorrhaging voters. The population growth in Columbus is in largely the result of people leaving some strong-D urban areas who do not go to other states. Columbus keeps Ohio from becoming another Missouri, but it is not attracting people from outside Ohio.  

The trend is OH is becoming another MS, just not yet.

lol

Anyway, what everyone else has said is mostly right. But also: a very aggressive gerrymander broke Democrats' ability to recruit anyone to anything above Mayor outside the major metro areas and Athens, which has had a debilitating effect on candidate recruitment. Columbus becoming the juggernaut for Ohio Democrats has been damning, as people from across the state resent it terribly.

In my experience, the feeling tends to be pretty mutual

True. Somewhat ironic, given many Columbus residents aren't locals, so it's frequently a hatred of one's hometown.

When I was growing up (in North Central Ohio) I always saw Columbus as the least likeable of the Big 3 Cs. It's always seemed a little stuck up and simultaneously very boring compared to Cleveland and Cincy.

[Don Vito Corleone]

Ohio has been trending right because aside from Greater Columbus and rural areas the state has been hemorrhaging voters. The population growth in Columbus is in largely the result of people leaving some strong-D urban areas who do not go to other states. Columbus keeps Ohio from becoming another Missouri, but it is not attracting people from outside Ohio. 

The trend is OH is becoming another MS, just not yet.

lol

Anyway, what everyone else has said is mostly right. But also: a very aggressive gerrymander broke Democrats' ability to recruit anyone to anything above Mayor outside the major metro areas and Athens, which has had a debilitating effect on candidate recruitment. Columbus becoming the juggernaut for Ohio Democrats has been damning, as people from across the state resent it terribly.

That reminds me, why do Cincinnati and Cleveland get professional sports teams and Columbus doesn't? It's both a bigger city and metro area.

It's a legacy thing from when Cleveland and Cincinnati were much more important than they are now, I think.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Speaker Boehner was from OH and every R Gov Kasich and DeWine are moderates and have 60% Approvals. Bob Taft was the only one to have subpar, Bush W won it anyways

[BuckeyeNut]

Ohio has been trending right because aside from Greater Columbus and rural areas the state has been hemorrhaging voters. The population growth in Columbus is in largely the result of people leaving some strong-D urban areas who do not go to other states. Columbus keeps Ohio from becoming another Missouri, but it is not attracting people from outside Ohio.  

The trend is OH is becoming another MS, just not yet.

lol

Anyway, what everyone else has said is mostly right. But also: a very aggressive gerrymander broke Democrats' ability to recruit anyone to anything above Mayor outside the major metro areas and Athens, which has had a debilitating effect on candidate recruitment. Columbus becoming the juggernaut for Ohio Democrats has been damning, as people from across the state resent it terribly.

In my experience, the feeling tends to be pretty mutual

True. Somewhat ironic, given many Columbus residents aren't locals, so it's frequently a hatred of one's hometown.

When I was growing up (in North Central Ohio) I always saw Columbus as the least likeable of the Big 3 Cs. It's always seemed a little stuck up and simultaneously very boring compared to Cleveland and Cincy.

The contrast with Cleveland makes sense, not sure the Cincinnati comparison holds up.

At this point, it's pretty clear that northeast Ohio is fun but poorly managed, and southwest Ohio is the opposite. There aren't enough people in the northwest or southeast for a "fun" comparison. Not to say they don't have character by any means, but it isn't so clear-cut.