EXPLAINER: Why AP called Ohio for Trump

WHY AP CALLED OHIO FOR TRUMP:

The AP declared President Donald Trump the winner of Ohio at 12:17 a.m. EST Wednesday, after an analysis of ballots statewide concluded there were not enough outstanding to allow Democratic nominee Joe Biden to catch up.

With 85% of the expected vote counted, Biden led Trump by roughly 4 percentage points — or about 120,000 votes out of 3 million counted. The remaining votes left to be counted in Democratic areas — both absentee and provisional ballots — were not enough for Biden to overtake Trump’s lead.

For a long time, Ohio was the quintessential swing state, which Barack Obama won twice.

Yet Trump carried it by 8 points in 2016. And after Republican wins statewide over the past decade, it has increasingly proven to be out of Democrats’ reach.