CLEVELAND, Ohio - Democrats thought they were in the wilderness heading into Tuesday night, but after wins by Republicans across the board, their future in Ohio is tenuous at best.

The GOP won seats up and down the ticket, even in an electoral climate that expert analysis, historical precedent, polling and conventional wisdom pointed toward Democrats' success. Polls showed Republican President Donald Trump's popularity waning in Ohio, providing an opening for Democrats to have success.

Instead, Republicans nearly ran the table. In what turned out to be a much softer "blue wave" for Democrats nationwide, Ohioans overwhelmingly supported Republicans, casting doubt over whether the Buckeye State is truly purple heading into the 2020 presidential election.

"President Trump is one of the most dominating figures I've ever seen in politics," said Mike Hartley, a Republican strategist in Columbus. "Not just Republican politics. We had great candidates across the board. They worked their asses off. This is real."

Democrats privately expressed optimism heading into Tuesday that former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray could pull off a win in the governor's race against Republican Attorney General Mike DeWine, carrying the party to a solid slate of statewide officeholders for the first time in a decade. Some even thought a couple of congressional races could be in play.

They vastly overestimated their odds and underestimated just how conservative the state is.

DeWine won the governor's race and Republicans ran the table of constitutional offices. They held on to every single congressional seat they currently owned. The GOP maintained their majorities in both chambers of the statehouse.

The statewide elected Democrat is an endangered species in Ohio, which not long ago could boast its reliably swing state status. U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown won his re-election and Michael Donnelly and Melody Stewart will join the Ohio Supreme Court, but outside of those three, marquee success stories were barren.

Jerry Austin, a veteran Democratic campaign consultant, said Tuesday was part of an ongoing struggle for Democrats over the last 30 years.

"It's one ridiculous thing after another, but basically we've been unable to get re-elected when we've won," Austin said. "And if you don't win the top of the ticket for governor, it's very rare you win any of the down-ballot races."

Austin said Democrats faltered at the statewide level by making the race about health care coverage, which the governor has relatively little control over. Instead, Austin thought Democrats should have focused on local issues, particularly the Education Classroom of Tomorrow - an online charter school known as ECOT that bilked the state out of millions of dollars.

Republicans, meanwhile, have every reason in the world to be ecstatic as the country heads into the 2020 presidential election. If they thought 2016 was a mandate for them, the 2018 victories are an even surer sign of the type of leadership Ohio wants.

A slew of conservative bills are likely to follow from the Statehouse.

"The Republicans in Ohio will continue governing as strong conservatives focused on continuing the economic growth of the previous eight years and creating a robust business environment for the residents of Ohio," Hartley said.

Republicans will look to cut more state regulations. DeWine's has already said he would sign a "heartbeat bill" - which would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat is present at roughly six weeks into pregnancy. So-called right-to-work legislation, which the public voted to overturn in 2011, could make a comeback, depending on the dynamics in Columbus.

And President Trump appears poised to win the state again in 2020. He stunned much of the political world with his 8-percentage point victory in Ohio in 2016.

If there were any questions about his popularity in the state Tuesday morning, they were erased Tuesday night. Trump rallied for Republicans the day before the election in Cleveland, and it looks like it yielded results.

Tom Sutton, political science professor at Baldwin Wallace University, said after Tuesday's results, the Democrats appear to have lost much of their clout in the state.

"I think we're moving more and more into reliably red and less and less as a swing state because the state continues to get older and that correlates to some degree with people voting conservatives," Sutton said.

More challenges await Democrats heading into 2020. Brown is often mentioned as a potential presidential candidate or running mate for the nominee. But with Democrats losing seats in the U.S. Senate and DeWine winning the governor's office, the party will be hard-pressed to let Brown give up his seat since DeWine would choose his replacement.

Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper's position may also be in jeopardy. Pepper was selected to reinvent the party after disastrous results in 2010 and 2014. Instead, he's overseen two embarrassing defeats and has been unable to capitalize on the environment like Democrats in other states.

"I haven't had a conversation with folks at the party," Pepper said. "That's the last thing on my mind right now is worrying about me. I'm more worried about people who ran great campaigns and lost. And I think the consequences of this election will unfortunately impact a lot of people negatively."