Ohio Senate race in virtual deadlock: poll

The Ohio Senate race between Republican J.D. Vance and Rep. Tim Ryan (D) is in a virtual deadlock, according to a new poll.

The USA Today Network Ohio-Suffolk University survey released Wednesday found that Vance leads Ryan by just more than 2 percentage points among likely Ohio voters, well within the margin of error.

Vance received the support of 41.6 percent of voters questioned compared to Ryan’s 39.4 percent. Almost 17 percent of respondents remain undecided in the closely watched race to replace retiring Sen. Rob Portman (R).

Additionally, 39.8 percent of respondents had a favorable view of Ryan, compared to the 34.6 who said the same about Vance.

While support for the candidates largely falls upon party lines, Ryan is trying to appeal to moderates in an attempt to take away more votes from Vance, who struggled for much of the primary race to break out of the middle of the pack. Vance’s popularity improved among voters after former President Trump endorsed him in mid-April, and many saw Vance’s performance in the primary as a key test of Trump’s strength within the GOP.

David Paleologos, director of Suffolk University’s Political Research Center, said that Ryan may lose some ground as Ohio residents grow more frustrated with the economy and President Biden’s leadership.

“Here’s Ryan trying to emerge from the quicksand … and he’s getting drawn back into it because the problem of the economy is so ominous in Ohio,” Paleologos said, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Many believe Biden will be a hurdle for Ryan, according to the new survey, as 49.4 percent of Ohio voters said they want their vote in November to change the direction in which Biden has led the country.

The poll of 500 likely Ohio midterm voters, conducted May 22-24, has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.