A pair of polls released today (Wednesday) shows Ohio’s U.S. Senate race is a dead heat – if Ted Strickland wins the Democratic nomination in less than three weeks.
The Baldwin Wallace poll shows former Gov. Strickland narrowly edging incumbent Republican Sen. Rob Portman. Quinnipiac’s poll reverses the order, but with within the margin-of error.
Lauren Copeland of Baldwin Wallace says the narrowness of the race could mean the dynamics of the presidential contest will spill over into the Senate fight.
“It’s possible that if Trump or another conservative Republican looks like he’s going to capture the presidency this might be a boost for Ted Strickland since voters in general like to see some checks and balances with one party controlling the presidency and another party controlling the Senate.”
She acknowledges, though, that it could play the other way, with the winner of the Senate seat riding the coattails of his party’s presidential candidate.
To get to the fall contest, Strickland must beat Cincinnati Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld on March 15. Both polls show a large majority of Ohio voters know very little about Sittenfeld.
