The Ohio swing counties were the key to Mitt Romney and Barack Obama’s campaigns — and not least of all, Franklin County, a region of just over a million people that includes the bustling university town of Columbus.

Franklin County ended up overwhelmingly support Obama -- 60 percent support, to be exact -- helping put the president over the top in the state.

Democrat Bill Brundige, a food company owner, said Columbus tends to vote more Democrat because of its large student population at the University of Ohio.

“We have one of the largest college student bases in the United States, you might say,” Brundige said. “I think we see it (the election) with a more Democratic view because of that …. ”

Brundige owns Frutta Del Mundo— a food company specializing in Italian espresso and coffee machines — as well as the Italian restaurant, Café Del Mundo.

Brundige started in business as a sixteen-year worker at Marsettis, a salad dressing company based in Columbus.

“I came from the last ranks of Americans to have a future without education,” Brundige said.

He said his company flourished under the Clinton administration but has faltered under Obama.

“Unfortunately thorough this economic time, it has dwindled down to a mere nothing because of the lack of participation of banks and small business," he said.

But he attributes this to corrupt banks and their corrupt lending practices.

“If they (the government) gave everyone in America $200,000 of that bailout money,” Brundige said, “they might have been able to pay their mortgages.”

Brundige said he would support the candidate supports his business. Romney has disappointed him in that respect. Last week to raise support in the wake of Sandy, staffers went to a local Walmart Store in Dayton and spent $5,000 on miscellaneous items, he said.

“They went to Walmart, which probably sent an invoice to China,” Brundige said. “That sent the message: This man really doesn’t understand small business.”

“We have natural springs in this area, really good drinking water,” Brundige said. “Why didn’t he spend that on drinking water?”

66-year-old Chuck Ardo, a Democratic party spokesperson, said before the election that there is strong support among certain base communities— the local party, he said, has sent out 400,000 pieces of mail within the last few months.

“We have strong support among African Americans, organized labor and women,” Ardo said. “So these are the people we try to get to the polls.”

But he said there have been hurdles along the way, especially for volunteers. He said a polling station, run by a church, ejected a girl handing out flyers.

"He told us to 'get off his property,” Ardo said. "Well, it's not his property when it's used for election purposes."

Ardo said that on Voting Day, the Democratic headquarters deployed 37 vehicles to give voters rides back and forth to polling places.

"We believe we have given about 500 people the opportunity to vote," Ardo said. "This election, our morale is very high and everyone is working exceptionally hard.”