U.S. Sen. Rob Portman’s decision to withdraw his endorsement of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is doing little to affect a double-digit lead over Democratic opponent Ted Strickland, two new polls show.
A Quinnipiac University survey released Tuesday shows the Cincinnati-area Republican up 13 points in Ohio’s U.S. Senate race, leading Strickland 54 percent to 41 percent.
A CNN/ORC poll released Monday found Portman with a 16-point advantage over Strickland, a former Ohio governor, among likely voters.
Both polls were conducted after Portman rescinded his endorsement of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump on Oct. 8, following the release of a 2005 video showing Trump making vulgar and sexually aggressive comments about women.
Portman has held a double-digit lead in most polls for more than a month, though many Democrats hoped that his endorsement withdrawal would hurt him — both among Democrats upset with his past support of Trump and among Trump supporters angry that Portman abandoned their candidate.
But the Quinnipiac poll found 95 percent of Republican likely voters in Ohio support Portman, 1 percent higher than his GOP support in the last Quinnipiac poll on Oct. 5. Strickland did pick up some ground among likely Democratic voters — he polled 88 percent among them, up from 80 percent in the last Quinnipiac survey.
Fifty-nine percent of independent voters back Portman – the same level of independent support Portman received in the Oct. 5 Quinnipiac poll. Strickland polled 34 percent among independents in the latest poll.
Trump, for his part, is running neck-and-neck with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in the Buckeye State, according to the polls.
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