Poll: Portman leads Ohio; Senate races close in Fla., Pa.

Republican Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Rob Portman (Ohio) are leading their Senate reelection races, while Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) is trailing his Democratic opponent, according to Quinnipiac polls released Thursday.

Rubio has a slight lead over Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.) and a greater edge over Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.). The two Democrats are facing off in a primary for the right to challenge Rubio in November.

{mosads}Rubio leads Murphy, 48 percent to 45 percent, among likely voters. Quinnipiac called the race “too close to call.”

Meanwhile, Rubio is ahead of Grayson by a margin of 49 to 43 percent.

Portman has a big edge over former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, leading him 49 to 40 percent in the poll.

In Pennsylvania, Democratic challenger Katie McGinty has 47 percent support to Toomey’s 44 percent.

In that race, McGinty leads among women, 52 to 38 percent, and Toomey leads among men, 51 to 41 percent.

“At this stage of the campaign, Republican U.S. Senate candidates may be running against their own presidential nominee, Donald Trump, as much as they are against their Democratic opponents,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University poll, in a news release.

“In each of the three key swing states, the incumbent U.S. senators seeking re-election are running better than Trump. But if Trump continues to lag behind in the presidential race, that will make it more difficult for GOP candidates, logic holds, up and down the ballot.” 

The polls were conducted from July 30 to Aug. 7. The Florida poll included 1,056 voters and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points. The Ohio poll included 812 voters and has a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points. The Pennsylvania poll included 815 voters and has a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.