New polling shows Brown, DeWine with leads in Ohio

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is leading his Republican opponent, Rep. Jim Renacci (R), by a whopping 17-point margin, according to a Baldwin Wallace University poll released Tuesday.

That same poll shows Ohio’s Republican attorney general, Mike DeWine, with a much more narrow 41.8-37 percent lead over Democrat Richard Cordray, the former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), in the race to succeed Gov. John Kasich (R).

Brown, a two-term incumbent, is among a handful of Senate Democrats running for reelection this year in a state that President Trump won in 2016.

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The survey shows Brown with 49.2 percent support among likely Ohio voters, while Renacci garners 31.8 percent support.

Another 19.1 percent remain undecided, giving Renacci some room to close the gap. 

“In both races, the outcomes will hinge on how late-deciding voters break on election day,” Tom Sutton, the director of the Community Research Institute at Baldwin Wallace University, said. 

Polls have consistently shown DeWine and Cordray, who left his post at the CFPB last year just before announcing his gubernatorial bid, locked in a tight race.

The Baldwin Wallace University survey also showed that a little more than 21 percent of respondents remain undecided on how they would vote in the gubernatorial race.

Republicans entered 2018 with an advantageous electoral map in the Senate. More than two dozen Democratic incumbents in the chamber are defending their seats this year, including 10 in states won by Trump in 2016.

But the party has still found itself with a narrow path to retaining the majority, as states like Tennessee and Arizona are eyed as prime pickup opportunities and Sen. Ted Cruz (R) has found himself in an increasingly competitive race against Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D) in deep-red Texas.

The Cook Political Report, an election handicapper, currently rates the Ohio Senate race as “lean Democrat” and the governor’s race as a toss-up.

The Baldwin Wallace University poll surveyed 1,048 likely Ohio voters from Sept. 5-15. It has a margin of error of 3.6 percentage points.