More voters switched from Democrat to Republican affiliation than the other way around during Ohio’s March 15 primary, records show.

The GOP picked up more new voters than the Democrats statewide and in almost every county, according to the Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted’s office.

More people voted in the Republican primary, 1,952,684, than in the Democratic primary, 1,197,725.

Kelly Emerson of Toledo, who was formerly registered as a Democrat, said he chose to vote in the Republican primary because of his dislike for Democrat Hillary Clinton. 

Though he said he doesn’t like Donald Trump, the 59-year-old North Toledo resident wouldn’t say if he voted for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Mr. Trump’s main competition in the Ohio primary.

“I don’t think I’m going to vote either way [in November] because I don’t like [Mr. Trump]. I certainly didn’t like Hillary Clinton,” he said. “This is the very first time I ever voted Republican in my life.”

The GOP primary dominated the news as Mr. Kasich was counting on a win to hold off Mr. Trump’s bid for the GOP presidential nomination.

Mr. Trump held four rallies in the state — none in northwest Ohio — but fell short of Mr. Kasich’s plurality of voters. Mr. Kasich won all 66 Ohio Republican delegates, but dropped out of contention a few weeks later when he was unable to win other states’ primaries. 

Also campaigning for Ohio Republican primary votes was U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Clinton vied with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

In Lucas County, more than 4,000 voters who previously identified themselves as Democrats cast ballots as Republicans, while a little more than 1,000 Republican voters cast ballots as Democrats.

Whether Ohio voters cast ballots as Republicans out of enthusiasm for Mr. Kasich, who was popular with progressives in comparison with Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz, is hard to tell.

Joshua Hughes, Lucas County Democratic Party chairman, said that from the number of phone calls he received, he believed a significant number of those party switchers were mainly concerned with keeping Mr. Trump from getting the nomination.

“A number of people explained that they would be happy with Hillary or Bernie, but wanted to do anything they could to keep it from Trump,” Mr. Hughes said. 

He said he didn’t believe the enhanced Republican turnout in March means there will be a big Republican turnout for Mr. Trump in November.

The Republican vote in Mahoning County, where Mr. Trump made a campaign appearance at the regional airport near Youngstown, lends credence to the theory that much of the party switching reflected support for the Trump candidacy.

Mr. Trump made a strong appeal to the depressed and mostly white enclaves of eastern Ohio. 

Of all the Republican votes cast in Mahoning County, 26.7 percent came from former Democrats, the highest percentage in the state.

Whatever the reason, Lucas County Republican Party Chairman Jon Stainbrook said he was thrilled by the new support and said it demonstrates excitement for the Republican presidential ticket. He did not agree with the theory that Democrats were voting as Republicans in an effort to prevent Mr. Trump winning the nomination.

“There’s a small percentage that did, but it was not the numbers they want to legitimize,” Mr. Stainbrook said. “They voted for John Kasich because we want to honor our governor. I think the turnout, the 30,000 previously unaffiliated, turned out for our governor.”

He said those new GOP voters will undoubtedly start getting Republican appeals in the mail and on their home phone lines.

“We will capture that list and then we will mail to those people,” Mr. Stainbrook said.

Mr. Husted released statistics on party-switching statewide and by county.

Of those voting Republican statewide, 115,762 previously identified as Democrats. In addition, 60,716 people who voted for the first time voted Republican and 849,415 previously unaffiliated voters cast a Republican ballot. Including switchers from minor parties, there are 1,030,752 new Republican voters in Ohio following the March 15 primary.

Of Ohioans casting votes as Democrats, 34,867 were previously Republicans, 58,139 were new voters, and 651,928 were previously not affiliated with a political party, for a total of 747,275 new Democratic voters, including those who formerly voted minor party ballots.

In Lucas County, 4,173 voters switched their party registration from Democratic to Republican, and 1,130 voters who previously identified as Republicans pulled Democratic ballots.

In Ohio, voter registration is based on ballots requested during even-year primary elections. 

A person stays affiliated with that party until he or she switches, or after several elections of nonparticipation.

The trend was the same in most northwestern Ohio counties.

Hancock and Van Wert counties were among only six Ohio counties with more Republicans voting Democratic than Democrats voting Republican.

In Lucas County, there were 31,371 new Republican voters and 33,641 new Democratic voters.

Sometimes voters cross party lines in a primary because the other party’s race is more interesting, or because they want to influence the party’s choice, even while never intending to vote for the party’s nominee.

In 2008, radio talk host Rush Limbaugh promoted something he called Operation Chaos. 

He called on Republicans to cast a Democratic ballot in favor of Hillary Clinton to keep the contest going between her and Barack Obama.

Records show 7,999 registered Republicans in Lucas County crossed party lines and cast votes as Democrats in 2008. Many may have returned to the GOP in 2010, 2012, or 2014.

Contact Tom Troy: tomtroy@theblade.com or 419-724-6058 or on Twitter @TomFTroy.

First Published May 31, 2016, 4:00 a.m.