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The two successful state issues on the ballot -- abortion rights and legalizing recreational marijuana -- did particularly well in Mahoning and Trumbull counties' cities and most-populous townships and lost in most smaller, rural areas.
Issue 1, an abortion and reproductive rights constitutional amendment, captured 56.62% of the state vote, according to unofficial results pending certification. It did slightly better in Trumbull County with 57.33% and slightly worse in Mahoning with 56.22%
Issue 2, a citizens initiative to legalize adult recreational marijuana, received 56.97% of the statewide vote. It underperformed in Trumbull, getting 52.92% support, and in Mahoning with 51.78% backing it.
Issue 1 won 131 of Trumbull's 158 precincts while Issue 2 won 102 of those precincts and had a 173-173 tie in Howland Precinct W.
Issue 1 won 171 of Mahoning's 212 precincts with Issue 2 winning 130 of them.
Both issues won all 45 precincts in Youngstown, the Mahoning Valley's most-populous community, and Issue 1 won all 26 precincts in Warren, Trumbull County's most-populous community, with Issue 2 winning all but Precincts 3K and 3L in that city.
In Trumbull, both issues won every precinct in Niles, Girard, Liberty, McDonald, Newton Falls and Warren Township.
Also, Issue 1 won every precinct in Hubbard city, Braceville, Brookfield, Howland, Newton Township and Weathersfield.
It won six out seven precincts in Champion, four out of five in Bazetta, five out of six in Cortland and three out of four in Hubbard Township.
But Issue 2 didn't fare as well in some of those communities. It won seven of Howland's 14 precincts with the tie in Precinct W and lost by 104 votes in that township as well as winning just one precinct in Champion and two each in Bazetta and Cortland.
Issue 1 received 8,059 yes votes in Youngstown, which was 19.15% of its total support in Mahoning County. Issue 2 received 7,488 yes votes in Youngstown, 19.43% of its total Mahoning County support.
In addition to Youngstown, both issues won every Mahoning County precinct in Campbell, Lowellville and the lone precincts in Craig Beach and Washingtonville.
Also, Issue 1 won every precinct in Struthers (Issue 2 lost one of the 12 precincts there), Austintown, Coitsville, Beloit's lone precinct, the village of Poland (Issue 2 lost all three precincts there) and Sebring.
It also won six of the eight precincts in the city of Canfield while Issue 2 won only three of those precincts and lost there by 406 votes. Also, Issue 2 lost in six of Austintown's 33 precincts.
In Boardman, Issue 1 won 33 of the 37 precincts while Issue 2 lost 20 precincts in that township. Despite that, Issue 2 won Boardman by 255 votes.
Issue 1 won eight of Poland Township's 13 precincts (winning the township by 96 votes) while Issue 2 lost in 11 precincts there.
The issues won one of two precincts in Milton and New Middletown. Overall, Issue 1 won Milton by seven votes and Issue 2 won by 29 votes. In New Middletown, Issue 1 tied 313-313 and Issue 2 lost 331-287.
In Mahoning, five out of 212 precincts -- Smith 2 and 4, Springfield 3 and 6, and the lone precinct in Beloit -- voted against Issue 1 and in favor of Issue 2.
Of Trumbull's 158 precincts, only two -- Fowler A and Vienna C -- voted no on Issue 1 and yes on Issue 2.
Some of the most lopsided wins for the issues were in Youngstown. In Precinct 1C, Issue 1 won 193-28 and Issue 2 won 179-44 while in Precinct 3F, Issue 1 won 371-110 and Issue 2 won 315-167.
Big wins also were in Warren, such as Precinct 2G, where Issue 1 won 115-48; and Issue 2 won 121-42, and in Precinct 3D, where Issue 1 won 262-123 and Issue 2 won 220-158.
The issues fared poorly in the less-populated parts of both counties, which typically vote Republican.
One exception was Canfield Township. Issue 1 won two of Canfield Township's eight precincts and Issue 2 won one.
In Mahoning County, Issue 1 won only one of Beaver's seven precincts and Issue 2 lost all seven. Both issues lost in Berlin, Ellsworth, Goshen, Green and Jackson.
Issue 1 lost all four precincts in Smith while Issue 2 won two of them (but still lost by 26 votes in the township) while Issue 1 lost all six of Springfield's precincts while Issue 2 won two of them (and lost the township by 219 votes).
Among the worst defeats for the two issues in Mahoning County were Beaver Precinct 1 where Issue 1 lost 273-188 and Issue 2 lost 280-179, and in Goshen Precinct 2, where Issue 1 lost 265-135 and Issue 2 was rejected 257-134.
In Trumbull County, both issues lost in Bloomfield, Bristol, Farmington, West Farmington, Greene, Hartford, Kinsman, Mecca, Mesopotamia and Vernon.
Issue 1 lost both Fowler precincts while Issue 2 won one of them, and ended up losing by nine votes there.
In Gustavus' lone precinct, Issue 1 won by 35 votes and Issue 2 lost by 24 votes.
While Issue 1 won one of Johnston's two precincts, overall it lost there by 47 votes. Issue 2 lost both precincts.
Both issues lost in Southington, winning just one of its three precincts.
In Lordstown, Issue 1 won two of three precincts and won the village by 11 votes while Issue 2 won a single precinct there and lost the village by 63 votes.
Also, among the three precincts in Vienna, each issue won one precinct though they were different with those in Precinct C backing Issue 2 and those in Precinct B supporting Issue 1. Issue 1 lost in Vienna by 18 votes while Issue 2 lost in that township by 145 votes.
Among the worst defeats for the issues in Trumbull were in Bloomfield's lone precinct with Issue 1 defeated 184-110 and Issue 2 losing 171-114, 397-283 for Issue 2 in Howland Precinct H, and 181-87 for Issue 1 in Mesopotamia Precinct A.
REACTIONS
Mahoning County Democratic Chairman Chris Anderson, whose party backed Issue 1, said his party focused on the more-populous communities in getting out the vote, but didn't ignore the rural areas with the hopes of making the margins of defeat in the latter smaller.
"We campaigned everywhere because our team doesn't write off a single precinct," he said. "Just because someone lives in a rural area doesn't mean they're any less deserving of our attention. But there was no surprise that Issue 1 did better in urban areas and lost by less in rural areas."
The strategy, he said, provides a "solid road map" for what the party will do when campaigning next year.
"We talk to working-class voters and we don't ignore anyone. We have the difficult conversations in rural communities because they've been sold a bill of goods by people who don't care about them," he said.
Issue 2 took longer to qualify for the ballot and the Mahoning Democrats couldn't schedule a meeting to discuss it in time so the party didn't vote on whether to endorse it, Anderson said.
The lack of a coordinated campaign is likely why Issue 2 didn't do as well in Mahoning County as it did statewide, Anderson said.
Tex Fischer, Mahoning County Republican Party first vice chairman, said his party opposed Issue 1 and didn't take a position on Issue 2 though the state party opposed it.
"There were a lot of people who were split on the issues," he said.
Issue 2 ended up doing well in several smaller, rural counties in the state.
"I'm surprised by how strong the support for Issue 2 was in the rural parts of the state," Fischer said.
The abortion rights amendment won in Mahoning County, in part, Fischer said, because some are opposed to the state's so-called heartbeat law, which bans abortions after the detection of a heartbeat, typically around six weeks. The law currently is on hold in the courts and won't take effect because of the passage of Issue 1.
"There are a lot of 'blue-dog' Democrats in Mahoning County that don't support the heartbeat bill," Fischer said. "If it was a ban after the first trimester, we would have seen a different outcome."
With the constitutional amendment approved, Fischer said if parental consent is not required for minors to have abortions and / or there are late-term abortions, support for the issue will change among voters.
"We'll see how it's implemented," he said.
The Trumbull County Democratic Party backed Issue 1 and didn't take a position on Issue 2.
The party went door-to-door to the homes of Democrats and independents in Warren, Niles, Liberty and parts of Girard, Hubbard, Bazetta and Champion, said Kathy DiCristofaro, its vice chairwoman.
"We knocked on over 4,000 doors with a really strong group of volunteers," she said. "We kept hearing the same words: 'government overreach' and 'too much government control in personal business.'"
The party also mailed 8,000 postcards with handwritten messages to targeted voters with the amendment language for Issue 1, DiCristofaro said. That is twice the number of handwritten cards the party has ever sent out, she said. She added that voters read handwritten messages at a significantly higher rate than typical campaign mail.
As for the weaker showing of Issue 2 in Trumbull County, DiCristofaro said, "I attribute that to our work. We didn't discuss Issue 2, so it underperformed."