Sherrod Brown leads potential GOP rivals in Ohio Senate race: poll

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is leading hypothetical match-ups with his potential GOP rivals in Ohio’s Senate race as he tries for reelection in 2024, new polling shows. 

An Emerson College Polling/WJW-TV Fox 8 Cleveland survey of Ohio voters found Brown leading 42 percent support to 32 percent in a match-up with Republican businessman Bernie Moreno. 

Against Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Brown leads by 5 points, with 41 percent to LaRose’s 36 percent. Back in October, LaRose was up by 1 point. 

The closest match-up tested in the poll was against state Sen. Matt Dolan (R), but Brown still pulled ahead with 41 percent to Dolan’s 38 percent. 

Support for Brown grew by at least 3 points in each match-up compared with October polling. 

Republicans are readying for a competitive primary as the party looks to unseat the Democratic incumbent next year. 

Dolan ran for Ohio’s other Senate seat in last year’s midterms, but lost in the Republican primary to Sen. JD Vance, who had the backing of former President Trump and went on to win in the general election.

Moreno also ran for the Senate in the midterms but dropped out of the primary. He now has Trump’s backing. 

The new polling also shows Trump beating President Biden in a hypothetical 2024 presidential match-up in Ohio, which he won in both 2016 and 2020. Trump got 50 percent support to Biden’s 38 percent, with 12 percent undecided in the new poll.

“While Trump outperforms his 2020 vote in Ohio, Brown still leads the Republican candidates, though within the poll’s margin of error,” Kimball said. “About 1 in 10 2024 Trump voters plan to split their ticket and vote for Brown in the Senate match-up against any of the three leading Republican candidates.”

The Emerson College Polling/WJW-TV Fox 8 Cleveland poll was conducted Nov. 10-13 among 1,000 registered voters, with a credibility interval of plus or minus 3 percentage points. 

WJW-TV Fox 8 Cleveland and The Hill are both owned by Nexstar Media Group.