For months now, political pundits have worried having Republican Donald Trump at the top of the ticket might hurt down ticket races. But a new Quinnipiac University Poll in Ohio suggests otherwise. Statehouse reporter Jo Ingles has more.
The poll shows Republican U.S. Senator Rob Portman now leads his Democratic challenger, former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland by seven percentage points. Previous polls had shown the two men were in a dead heat.
Strickland says he doesn’t believe the Quinnipiac Poll is accurate.
“The NBC poll yesterday had it 44 -44 so polls go up and polls go down. But I think the real story, and I’ve been trying to get you folks to talk about this, is that some 32 million dollars has been spent against me by special interests.”
Real Clear Politics, a poll aggregator, has Portman up by nearly three points.
In a written statement, Michawn Rich, a spokesman for Portman, says Strickland’s campaign relies on the success of Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.