The Trump Effect

First Read: “We don’t know for sure if Donald Trump’s visit to OH-12 made things better or worse for Troy Balderson, but it sure looks like Trump may have turned out more voters against the GOP than for them. Just look at the turnout gap between O’Connor-friendly suburban Franklin County — where turnout was 42 percent — and the more rural counties in the district — where turnout hovered around 30 percent, give or take a few points.”

”And that’s after both Trump and Mike Pence rallied the base, and after a barrage of outside spending from GOP groups (more on that below). If that’s what it takes to get a less-than-enthused Trump vote out to eke out a one-point win in a district that shouldn’t be close, Republicans are in trouble.”