Ohio Governor, Senate Races Nearly Tied: Poll

Two of Ohio's biggest races this November are extremely close, according to a new poll released this week. Bowling Green State University (BGSU) surveyed 1,000 likely Ohio voters between September 1 and 10. The poll looked at the races for governor and U.S. Senate, as well as other important issues on the ballot.

In the race for governor, Democrat Amy Acton leads Republican Vivek Ramaswamy 48 percent to 45 percent among likely voters. That is a difference of only 3 points, which is very small. Even so, 62 percent of those polled said they think Ramaswamy will end up winning the November election.

The U.S. Senate race is also tight. Democratic challenger Sherrod Brown, a former senator, leads Republican incumbent Jon Husted by 3 points. An incumbent is someone who already holds the office. But 53 percent of people polled said they believe Husted will likely win in the end.

These results are similar to a poll done in June by AARP. That survey also showed the Republican candidates slightly behind the Democrats. Polls this close mean the races could go either way on Election Day.

The BGSU poll also asked about a proposed change to Ohio's state constitution. This change would require voters to show a government-issued ID, like a driver's license, when they go to vote. About 66 percent of voters said they had heard only 'some' or 'nothing at all' about this proposed rule. Even though many people were not fully informed, 64 percent said they would support the change, 29 percent were against it, and 7 percent said they were unsure.

The survey also asked Ohio voters what they think of President Trump's job performance. Sixty percent of those polled said they disapprove of how he is doing his job. Of that group, 49 percent said they were strongly dissatisfied with the president. This kind of disapproval can have a big effect on midterm elections.

Robert Alexander, a political science professor at BGSU, said the results show Ohio voters are becoming increasingly uneasy about the president and the direction of the country and economy. He explained that midterm elections — elections held in the middle of a presidential term — are often decided by how people feel about the president. Alexander said that because of Trump's low approval ratings, Democrats are now in a strong position to compete in a state Republicans have controlled for about 20 years. The poll has a margin of error of about 4 percentage points, meaning the true numbers could be slightly higher or lower.