CLEVELAND — Republican Donald Trump is projected to win Ohio in the 2024 presidential election, marking his third straight victory in the increasingly reddish swing state.

Trump leads Vice President Kamala Harris 1,862,142 votes (54.3%) to 1,541,101 (44.9%) with 58% of precincts reporting, putting him 17 electoral votes closer to the 270 he needs to win to win back the White House, the Associated Press reports.

This puts him above his previous margin of victory in the state, where he defeated Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden by 8 points each in 2016 and 2020.

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Economic fears and flawed border and immigration policies bolstered Trump's support in Ohio, particularly in suburban and rural counties where shifting demographics continue to favor the former president.

Ohio became a cultural touchpoint this election cycle as the small town of Springfield hit the headlines over dubious claims that the growing Haitian population eats cats and dogs, underscoring the country's refugee crisis.

Trump's campaign was quick to exploit the issue, sending vice presidential candidate and Ohio native JD Vance to the site, where he promised voters: “Kamala Harris' plan is to turn virtually every city in this country into Springfield.”

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While Trump didn't stop in super-safe Ohio this election cycle, he frequently used Vance and other surrogates as speakers like his eldest son Donald Trump Jr. and former rival and presidential primary surrogate Vivek Ramaswamy to make the campaign's case to the voters of the Buckeye State.

When Ramaswamy ran with Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno in Oxford last month, he spoke to a crowd of college students, directing his message to the young men in the room who he said have been “emasculated” by a weak economy.

“This is the greatest loss of confidence in American history,” he said, referring to young men who want to support a family but are struggling to do so because of inflation and a weaker dollar.

That message resonated with 19-year-old University of Miami student Jonah Hendershof, who attended the event and told the Post that he started saving for a house four years ago — when he was just a freshman in the was high school.

“Being able to work after school is very important to me. “It seems like the Conservatives are now better at building an economy that supports that,” he said, adding that while he knows his success is down to him, it helps to have politicians who are in the economic problems of the Americans are included.

“The values ​​I was raised with don't really change depending on who is president, but it makes it easier for me to feel like my work is paying off when the person in charge seems to care about what's actually happening.”