How did Woodrow Wilson carry Ohio in 1916?

[Beet]

Prior to that year, no Democrat had ever won more than 50% of the vote in Ohio. The closest was Rutherford Hayes in 1876. Grover Cleveland won by winning in New York. In 1912, Wilson carried Ohio but only with a 40% plurality. Based on electoral history alone, there is no reason to believe that Wilson had a chance in Ohio. Had he lost Ohio, he would have lost the election.

[Mikestone8]

Prior to that year, no Democrat had ever won more than 50% of the vote in Ohio. The closest was Rutherford Hayes in 1876. Grover Cleveland won by winning in New York. In 1912, Wilson carried Ohio but only with a 40% plurality. Based on electoral history alone, there is no reason to believe that Wilson had a chance in Ohio. Had he lost Ohio, he would have lost the election.

I'm sketchy about the details, but as I understand it, the State Republican Party was engaging in a more than usually brutal faction fight. They got clobbered in the State races as well as the national one.

Wilson's position on labor relations and the like was also popular there, but I think Republican weakness was more important than Democratic strength.

[Mechaman]

If it's Ohio I would probably guess a very strong showing of German Americans at the polls in 1916.

This may sound ridiculous now, considering how Wilson's second term came out, but Wilson did strongly amongst the German population on the assumption that he would continue to keep the US out of World War I.  The fact that Charles Hughes was campaigning on getting US forces "mobilized" in case of war didn't help the GOP with this crowd, who probably feared that a war with Germany would make them likely suspects for discrimination.
Of course they turned out to be right about that, but that's a debate for another time.

This idea may sound not that solid to some, but it should be noted that German Americans have been responsible for a good number of Democratic victories in Ohio.  1874 is a really good example.  Not only was Reconstruction becoming unpopular, but then you had some of the Ohio GOP endorsing Prohibition.  Well, not to play the stereotypasaurus here, but you can guess how German Americans responded to that (not going to mention the Irish, since they pretty much already hated the Republican Party).  The Democrats, in the year 1874, ended up winning 13 of the then 20 seats of the Ohio congressional delegation!  The year before the Democrats had only 6 of those seats (7, if you count the Liberal Republican who would change his ID the next year)!