WESTERVILLE, Ohio — As the candidates race toward the finish line, a battleground within a battleground could be the key to victory. In 2016, Ohio's suburbs handed Donald Trump the presidency, and they could again decide his fate in 2020.

At a Westerville bark park, everyone seems to be getting along. But on the national stage, it’s much less friendly.

“I think it's gonna go Democratic? But I don’t know. Everything is a crap shoot these days,” said Kristen Botkin-Doti, dog mom and Westerville resident.

What You Need To Know

  • The Ohio suburbs all but handed Trump his victory in 2016

  • The Columbus suburb of Westerville is a town divided

  • Pew Research Center data from 2016 shows Trump was able to clinch the suburban vote largely because he got 47 percent of the vote from white women

  • A social justice activist thinks more voters will choose Biden this time around

A little more than 40,000 people reside in the Columbus suburb of Westerville. Botkin-Doti describes it as a town divided, and it has been that way for quite some time. Back in 2012, it overwhelmingly went for Mitt Romney, and in 2016, it chose Hillary Clinton. This time around, it’s anyone's guess.

“It's become more personal, as opposed to all the big ideas and the policies. It's become about people,” said Mindy Hall, a social justice activist.

A Pew Research Center study shows back in 2016, 47 percent of white women cast their ballot for our current president, as compared with 45 percent for Hillary Clinton.  

Hall has a hunch as to why.

“I feel like, sadly, there are a lot of white women who, I don't know if believe in is the right word, but I'm gonna say it that way, believe in a patriarchy, and they think men should be in charge,” she said.

But will that change now that both candidates are men? She’s not sure, but says she sees evidence that unlikely voters are choosing Joe Biden.

“Just in my little couple of streets, I can see a change in that way, and some of those people might even be looked at as Republicans,” said Hall.

She does recognize that sometimes people can change.

When asked if she's reconsidered the Kasich sign hanging on the wall inside her garage, she replied,  "Ha! This makes me laugh. Yes, I've reconsidered, but at the time it was apropos.”

No matter who gets to be top dog in the race for the presidency, Ohio's suburban voters will undoubtedly play a pivotal role in this election.