Poll: Portman, Toomey lead Dem challengers in key Senate races

Republican Sens. Rob Portman (Ohio) and Pat Toomey (Pa.) lead their Democratic challengers in critical Senate races, a new poll finds.

{mosads}An Emerson College poll released Monday found Portman leading former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland by double digits, 40 to 25 percent, while 25 percent are undecided.

The GOP senator has a positive favorability rating of 41 to 35 percent. Strickland, who led the state from 2007 to 2011, has a negative rating, with 26 percent of voters viewing him favorably and 54 percent viewing him unfavorably.

Strickland led in polls earlier in the year, but since mid-July, Portman has consistently led Strickland by anywhere from 4 to 9 points in a state won by President Obama in both 2008 and 2012. He has even outperformed his party’s presidential nominee, Donald Trump, in some surveys. The Emerson College survey shows the greatest gap between Portman and his challenger.

In Pennsylvania, Toomey leads former gubernatorial chief of staff Katie McGinty by 7 points, 46 to 39 percent, while 10 percent are undecided. This is the first poll in about a month where the GOP senator has led. Pennsylvania was also carried by Obama in 2008 and 2012.

If Democrats want to retake the Senate, they will need to net four seats and retain the White House. They need to defend 10 seats, while Republicans have more of an uphill battle, needing to defend 24 seats.

The poll in Ohio was conducted from Aug. 25 to 27, and the poll in Pennsylvania was conducted from Aug. 25 to 28. The polls surveyed 800 likely voters via phone and the margin of error for each was 3.4 percentage points.