U.S. Sen. Rob Portman has opened up a sizable 9-point lead over Democratic rival Ted Strickland, according to a new poll released Thursday.
The Quinnipiac University poll showed the Republican incumbent with 49 percent support, compared to 40 percent for Strickland. It’s the largest lead Portman has received in a poll since the Senate race began.
Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, noted in a statement that while the two candidates each have 44-percent support among likely female voters, the survey shows Portman with a 19-point lead among likely male voters.
Portman is polling ahead of his party’s presidential nominee, Donald Trump, whom recent surveys show is tied with or losing to Democrat Hillary Clinton in Ohio.
“If Trump continues to lag behind in the presidential race, that will make it more difficult for GOP candidates, logic holds, up and down the ballot,” Brown said.
But, he added, “Sen. Rob Portman in Ohio may have a strong enough lead to escape the Trump effect.”
Portman’s campaign, not surprisingly, reacted happily to the poll results.
Strickland’s campaign spokesman David Bergstein stated in an email that “polls will go up and down,” noting that an NBC/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll from earlier this week showed Portman only leading by 3 percentage points among definite voters (the poll found Portman had a 5-point lead among registered voters).
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To view all the data from the survey, click here.
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