Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has taken a lead over two Republican challengers and expanded his lead over his other main GOP challenger in hypothetical matchups for next year's Senate race, according to a new poll.
An Emerson College-WJW-TV Fox 8 poll released on Thursday shows Brown leading his Republican challengers in head-to-head matchups by as much as 10%, showing improvement across the board when compared to the pollster's October survey.
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Brown leads Republican state Sen. Matt Dolan 41%-38% compared to Dolan's 38%-36% lead over Brown in October. The Democratic senator also leads Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose 41%-36% compared to LaRose's 39%-38% lead over Brown in the October poll.
The survey also showed Brown increasing his 35%-33% lead over Republican Bernie Moreno from October to a 42%-32% lead in the November poll. The poll of 1,000 registered voters was conducted from Nov. 10-13 and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
The Senate election in the Buckeye State next year is one of the key races the GOP has been focusing on in its bid to retake control of the upper chamber of Congress. Democrats currently have a 51-49 majority in the Senate, but they will be on the defense in several swing seats in 2024.
Brown and Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) are two Democratic senators representing heavily Republican states that will be up for election next year. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who also represents a heavily Republican state, has opted not to run for reelection, giving the GOP a golden opportunity to pick up at least one seat in 2024.
In the presidential race, former President Donald Trump holds a 50%-38% lead over President Joe Biden in the state, according to the poll, but at least 1 in 10 Trump voters say they will split their ticket between the former president and Brown.
“While Trump outperforms his 2020 vote in Ohio, Brown still leads the Republican candidates, though within the poll’s margin of error,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said in a statement. “About 1 in 10 2024 Trump voters plan to split their ticket and vote for Brown in the Senate matchup against any of the three leading Republican candidates.”
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The poll did not find a clear leader in the GOP Senate primary, with 54% saying they are undecided or plan to vote for someone other than the three main contenders. Among the three main contenders, LaRose has 18%, Dolan has 15%, and Moreno has 10%.
The poll comes weeks after voters in Ohio approved issues 1 and 2, enshrining the right to abortion and legalizing marijuana in the state, respectively. Both ballot initiatives passing was widely viewed as a setback for the GOP in an increasingly Republican state.