COLUMBUS — By all accounts, Vice President Al Gore should have won Ohio in last month's presidential election. He took Cuyahoga County by more than 150,000 votes, won Franklin County and lost in Hamilton County by only about 45,000 votes.

        But a closer look at the results shows Republicans gaining an edge as power in the state shifts from the north to the south and from the big urban counties to their suburbs, The Columbus Dispatch reported Monday.

        “I see a shift taking place, and, overall, it's working to the advantage of the Republican Party,” said James Kweder, political science professor at Cleveland State University.

        “If you had told most observers the results from Cuyahoga, Franklin and Hamilton counties and asked them who won the election, they'd all say Gore,” said Herb Asher, a political science professor emeritus at Ohio State University.

        President-elect Bush won the state by 3.6 percentage points, dominating the Democrat in rural areas and suburban counties.

        Election Day polling by a consortium of news organizations showed 24 percent of the statewide vote came from big cities, where Mr. Gore won 58 percent to 36 percent; 65 percent from suburban counties, won by Mr. Bush 53 percent to 44 percent; and 12 percent from rural counties, won by Mr. Bush 61 percent to 36 percent.

        Some Gore backers complain that he could have won the state had he paid more attention to it, but trends dating to 1960 show Ohio is becoming more difficult for Democrats, the newspaper reported.

        Mr. Asher said it is possible that more Republicans are moving to the suburban counties. The other possibility is that people who have moved to those counties have switched allegiance.

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