Biden to make last-minute campaign stop in Ohio on election eve

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Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden will head to the battleground state of Ohio on Monday, the final day before the Nov. 3 election, his campaign announced. 

The former vice president will address voters in Cleveland about "the crises facing the country and winning the battle for the soul of the nation" during the afternoon event, his campaign said.

A USA Today/Suffolk poll released Thursday shows Biden with a comfortable 8 percentage point lead nationally, but the race is much tighter in the swing states the candidates need to win to reach 270 electoral votes.

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According to an aggregate of polls by RealClearPolitics, Biden and Trump are neck-and-neck in Ohio, with the former vice president leading by less than one-quarter of a percentage point, indicating the race will be one to watch Tuesday night. 

Ohio has been viewed as a bellwether in presidential elections, although it has tilted more toward Republicans in recent years. In 2016, Trump beat Clinton by more than 8 percentage points in the state; but Barack Obama won the state in both 2008 and 2012, albeit by a slimmer margin (4.6 percentage points and 3 percentage points, respectively).

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With 18 electoral votes up for grabs, the state is crucial to Trump's re-election efforts.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, predicted on Sunday that Trump will clinch the state on Tuesday, but suggested the race between the president and his opponent will be tight. 

"I think the president wins Ohio,” DeWine said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I think it's going to be a close vote. I think he wins by a couple points probably.”

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Biden will head to Pennsylvania, another state that Trump won in 2016, later on Monday as he looks to rebuild the "blue wall." The RealClearPolitics average shows Biden with a 4 percentage point lead in the state.