Several weeks before Tuesday's election, a political research group headed by a GOP operative identified Northampton County as one of the 10 biggest battleground counties nationwide in the presidential race.

The group's reasoning: The presidential candidate who carried the county in the past four elections did so with a percentage of votes that closely mirrored the percentage of votes that candidate received to carry the entire state of Pennsylvania.

Is that what happened Tuesday when Donald Trump won Pennsylvania -- the first Republican to carry the state since 1988 -- en route to his electoral college win over Democrat Hillary Clinton?

The numbers are in and the argument can be made based on those numbers.

According to unofficial results, 71,384 voters in Northampton County picked Trump compared to 63,977 who picked Clinton. Trump won 49.63 percent of the vote.

The statewide results, with 98 percent of precincts reporting as of 11:45 a.m. Wednesday, gave Trump 48.84 percent of the vote.

In Lehigh County, Clinton won on Tuesday with 50.4 percent of the vote, but the group that identified the top battleground counties, Axiom Strategies, didn't name Lehigh in its list.

Here's a look at how the presidential votes went in past elections in Northampton County compared to the state, according to Axiom:

In 2012, President Barack Obama won the county with 52.08 percent of the votes; he won the state with 51.71 percent of the votes.

In 2008, Obama won the county with 55.50 percent; he won the state with 54.65 percent.

In 2004, then-Sen. John Kerry won the county with 50.06 percent of the vote; he won the state with 50.96 percent.

In 2000, former Vice President Al Gore won the county with 50.72 percent of the vote; he won the state with 50.61 percent.

Nick Falsone may be reached at nfalsone@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickfalsone. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.