Battleground Breakdown: Where Key States Stand in the 2016 Presidential Race

Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Nevada and North Carolina are up for grabs.

ByABC News
September 29, 2016, 9:43 AM

— -- As the countdown to Election Day continues, the battle for the presidency is picking up steam, and nowhere is that more obvious than in the battleground states.

ABC News is breaking down the issues and ground games in play in five key battleground states: Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Nevada and North Carolina. Based on reporting and analysis, ABC News has determined that these five states are currently up for grabs for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump.

Both campaigns are getting help from the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee, respectively. On the Democratic side, the DNC and Hillary for America are running coordinated campaigns, with door knockers stumping for Clinton as well as for Senate and local races, according to a campaign aide. The majority of Democratic offices in battleground states are coordinated campaign offices, and there are a handful of DNC-specific offices as well. The funding for the coordinated campaign offices has largely come from money raised through the Hillary Victory Fund, which is run by Hillary for America, the DNC and state parties, a campaign aide told ABC.

The Republican operation started well before Trump was in the picture, according to RNC spokeswoman Lindsay Walters, who said that Chairman Reince Priebus invested in permanent ground operations in battleground states back in 2013. When it became clear that Trump was the party’s nominee, his campaign welcomed the RNC’s set-up, she told ABC News.

“The RNC is the infrastructure for the entire GOP ticket, and the Trump campaign has embraced it,” she said, calling it “effective and efficient” to have all their efforts run through the same team rather than having separate teams for Trump and the RNC.

Ad spending is going to be ramping up in many states, and the influx is even clearer in these five battleground states.

Here are primers on five states that could make the election break one way or the other.

Florida

Since its role in the 2000 presidential election, Florida has been a key part of the battleground conversation. Its residents have chosen the eventual Electoral College winner in the last five elections. Read the breakdown here.

Iowa

A state that Trump lost in the Republican caucuses is key to his winning the presidency. Read the breakdown here.

Ohio

There’s an old saying, As Ohio goes, so goes the nation. Read the breakdown here.

Nevada

Luck has always played a pivotal role for fortune seekers in Nevada, and now Clinton and Trump are betting on the Silver State. Read the breakdown here.

North Carolina

North Carolina wasn’t always a battleground state — in fact, it has gone red in five of the last six elections — but since Barack Obama’s victory there in 2008, Democrats have homed in on the state’s changing demographics and young population. Read the breakdown here.

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