

Donald Trump pumped his fists during a campaign event in Geneva, Ohio, last month. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

This post has been updated.

Donald Trump collected three more newspaper endorsements on Sunday — nice pickups for a candidate feeling momentum near the finish line but also a reminder of just how rare it was for the Republican presidential nominee to earn a publication's support in this election.

The Florida Times-Union of Jacksonville, Bowling Green (Ky.) Daily News and Republican-American of Waterbury, Conn., joined a coterie of Trump-backing papers that includes the Las Vegas Review-Journal, owned by GOP mega donor Sheldon Adelson, and small dailies such as the St. Joseph (Mo.) News-Press, Santa Barbara News-Press, Waxahachie (Tex.) Daily Light, Times-Gazette of Hillsboro, Ohio, and Antelope Valley Press of Palmdale, Calif.

Overall, the 2016 endorsement season was characterized by striking departures from tradition, as conservative editorial boards across the country overwhelmingly rejected the Republican Party's standard-bearer.

The San Diego Union-Tribune endorsed Hillary Clinton, marking the first time the paper has supported a Democrat for president since 1868. The Arizona Republic also backed Clinton, endorsing a Democrat for the first time in its 126-year history.

The Cincinnati Enquirer, noting it "has supported Republicans for president for almost a century," endorsed Clinton, as did the Dallas Morning News, even though it "has not recommended a Democrat for the nation's highest office since before World War II."

The State of Columbia, S.C., bestowed on Clinton its first endorsement of a Democrat in 40 years, and the Houston Chronicle's endorsement of Clinton was just its second for a Democrat in 13 election cycles.

Other right-leaning publications that could not bring themselves to endorse Clinton threw their support by Libertarian Gary Johnson, instead. On Sunday, the Post & Courier of Charleston, S.C., and the Danville (Va.) Register and Bee joined the Chicago Tribune, Detroit News, Union Leader of Manchester, N.H., Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal and Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch in backing the former governor of New Mexico.

The Florida Times-Union wrote that endorsing Trump was "anything but a comfortable call" but concluded that he is the best option in a field of flawed candidates.

America needs a major shake-up. There is only one presidential candidate with the will and ability to do it. Donald Trump, despite all of his faults, is best suited to blow up the inbred corruption of the Washington-New York elites.

The Bowling Green Daily News wrote that "it would be tempting for this newspaper to sit out this election cycle, but our conscience will not allow this because of the threat to our individual liberties under the Bill of Rights and to the rule of law a Hillary Clinton presidency would pose."

The Republican-American "reluctantly" recommended Trump over Clinton in a choice between "the worst nominees in memory."

On his website, Mr. Trump portrays himself as a supporter of conservatism. If he becomes president, he would be wise to surround himself with capable advisers, listen to them and craft truly conservative policies.

Thanks to the Times-Union, Daily News and Rep-Am, Trump is finishing the endorsement season on a high note. But rejections by papers that almost always back Republicans prevented him from hitting very many such notes throughout the general election.