Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine told voters Wednesday that it’s “checkmate” if Hillary Clinton wins Ohio in 2016, which is the exact same thing he said about Florida this weekend.
“Ohio is checkmate,” the Virginia senator said Wednesday at a campaign stop in Columbus. “If we win Ohio it’s over.”
“Hillary Clinton could be president without Ohio, but [GOP nominee] Donald Trump cannot be president without Ohio,” he added.
Kaine’s remarks in Ohio come three days after he told voters in Florida that their state was “checkmate” in the 2016 presidential election.
“I just want … to tell you how important you are,” the senator said. “You’re important. You matter.”
“You will be the — you will dictate the outcome of this election,” Kaine said. “Donald Trump basically feels like you guys are checkmate. If he loses Florida, it’s checkmate. So let’s do some checkmating here. Right? Let’s do some checkmating and win.”
Florida and Ohio’s swing-state status, and their high number of electoral votes, 29 and 18, respectively, make them must-wins for any White House hopeful.
Hillary Clinton currently leads Trump in Florida by 3.6 points, according to a RealClearPolitics polling average. Trump meanwhile is ahead of Clinton in the Buckeye State by 0.7 points, according to the same polling averages.
