OHIO — The final votes are in, and Ohioans followed the trends seen in polls casting their ballots for the former Republican president: Donald Trump.

Trump won the Buckeye State’s 17 Electoral College votes, according to The Associated Press.

Polls showed former President Donald Trump trending ahead of Harris for several weeks before the Nov. 5 election. Trump has won the state in the past two elections against President Joe Biden and Hilliary Clinton, beating them both by about eight percentage points according to 270toWin, a nonpartisan political site.

Support for the former president helped turn Ohio from a presidential bellwether to reliably Republican in recent years. Ohio voters supported him by wide margins in 2016 and 2020, and they delivered for him again this year.

No Republican has reached the White House without carrying Ohio. In 2020, Joe Biden became the first Democrat to win the presidency without winning Ohio since John F. Kennedy in 1960. 

In 2020, Trump garnered more than 3.1 million Ohioan votes, the most of any candidate in Ohio history after exceeding former President Barack Obama's 2.9 million in 2008.  

The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 9:08 p.m. EST.

This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.