In the race for Ohio Governor, the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey reports that Republican John Kasich holds a +7% lead over incumbent Democrat Ted Strickland, 47% to 40%. 3% of likely voters prefer another candidate, and 10% are undecided.

PollTrack Rates The Race Too-Close-To-Call

A new Quinnipiac poll in Ohio reports that the race for U.S. Senate is virtually deadlocked. Democrat Lee Fisher leads Republican Rob Portman by a slim +2% lead, 42% to 40%, with 17% undecided.

PollTrack Rates The Race Too Close To Call.

A Quinnipiac survey in Ohio reports a small lead for incumbent Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland over Republican challenger John Kasich, 43% to 38%. Another, contradictory, poll by Public Policy Polling survey shows Kasich with a small lead, 43% to 41%.

PollTrack Rates The Race Too Close To Call.

A just released Rasmussen survey in Ohio reports that the Republican and Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate--Rob Portman and Lee Fisher, respectively--are deadlocked at 43% each.

With the respective nominees now decided in Ohio's U.S. Senate race, a new Rasmussen poll reports that Democrat Lee Fisher inches past Republican Rob Portman, 43% to 42%.

PollTrack rates the race too-close-to-call.

It looks like the Democrats are honing in on a candidate to challenge Republican Rob Portman in the U. S. Senate race in November. A new Suffolk University poll shows Lee Fisher trouncing Jennifer Brunner in this week's Democratic primary race, 55% to 27%. These numbers are consistent with a spate of new polls that show Fisher well head in the race to challenge Portman, who is unopposed for the Republican nomination, in the general election.

In the Democratic primary for US Senate in Ohio, A new DailyKos/Research 2000 poll reports that Lee Fisher leads Jennifer Brunner, 35% to 26%, with a whopping 39% still undecided. In the general election the poll shows Democrat Fisher leading Republican Rob Portman, 43% to 39%; Brunner leads by an even smaller margin, 41% to 40%. With the leads statistically insignificant--and the undecided number high--PollTrack continues to rate the race too close to call.

A new DailyKos/Research 2000 survey in Ohio reports that incumbent Gov. Ted Strickland is ahead of his presumptive challenger Republican John Kasich in the race for governor, 45% to 40%, with 15% still undecided. With the race statistically close--and the undecided number high--PollTrack continues to rate the race too close to call.

Are Democrats gaining in Ohio? A new Quinnipiac poll suggests that the answer may be yes. The survey finds that Democrats now lead in both the U.S. Senate and Governor's races. In hypothetical match ups in the Senate race, Democratic Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher leads Republican Rob Portman, 41% to 37%; Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner also edges Portman, albeit by a single point, 38% to 37%, a +6% gain over Quinnipiac's February poll. In the gubernatorial race, incumbent Democrat Ted Strickland leads Republican challenger John Kasich by +5%--43% to 38%.

This week, Polltrack looks at races it rates as a Toss Up for 2010 US Senate.

Here is the poll average for OHIO:

Portman (R) 44.0 % to Fischer (D) 39.0%.

In this hypothetical match up (including only the respective leaders in their party's upcoming primaries), PollTrack believes that neither party leads in this key bellwether state. Many voters remain undecided.

A new survey reports that there is no clear leader in the 2010 Ohio US Senate race: "None of the top contenders  . . . are gaining ground at this point, with Republican Rob Portman still holding a modest lead. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in the state finds Portman leading Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher 44% to 39% . . . Portman holds a 43% to 37% lead over Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, and this, too, is little changed from the previous survey. Six percent (6%) opt for another candidate, with 15% more undecided."

In hypothetical match ups in the Ohio US Senate race--against Democrats Lee Fischer and Jennifer Brunner--Republican Rob Portman leads by +4% on average. Still, PollTrack rates the race too-close-to-call.

According to PollTrack's first read of the 2010 US Senate Race for Ohio's open seat, neither party has an edge in this key swing state. PollTrack First Call: Toss Up.

Is Ohio--one of a handful of key bellwether states--trending Republican? A new Wenzel Strategies poll suggests that the answer may be yes. In the November's race for governor, Republican John Kasich leads incumbent Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, 43% to 33%. In the U.S. Senate race, Republican Rob Portman bests Democrat Lee Fischer, 37% to 31%, and leads Democrat Jennifer Brunner (D), 40% to 35%.

Are Democrats about to loose the highest office in one of the nation's most important swing states, Ohio? The answer, at this early stage, could be yes: "Unemployment in Ohio has jumped to 10.5%, the state is wrestling with an $851 million budget shortfall, and Governor Ted Strickland has proposed delaying a tax cut approved in 2005. Add it all together, and it’s a tough environment for the incumbent Democratic governor who now trails his expected general election opponent by nine percentage points in an early look at the 2010 race." In the poll, Republican John Kasich gets 48% of the vote while Strickland picks up just 39%. Three percent (3%) say they’d prefer a third-party candidate, and 11% are not sure who they would vote for. In September, the two men were essentially even.

What a difference a year can make in politics. A new Quinnipiac University poll suggests that the Democratic brand--and President Obama--are both suffering a decline in overall support in the key swing state of Ohio: The poll indicates a shift toward the Republicans, exemplified by President Obama's disapproval rating in the (50%) which is now higher than his approval rating (45%). And Republican Bob Portman, a former House member from the Cincinnati area and the party-endorsed candidate for the Senate, now holds slight leads--of +3% and +4% respectively--over Democrats Lee Fisher, the lieutenant governor, and Jennifer Brunner, the Ohio secretary of state. Given the bellwether status of the state, these numbers could signal problems ahead for the Democrats, both in locally and nationally.

Acording to a Rasmussen survey, things are looking very tight in next year's US Senate race in Ohio: "Next year’s U.S. Senate race in Ohio is a neck-and-neck battle for Republican Rob Portman no matter which Democratic candidate he faces, according to the first Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 survey in the state. Portman is in a virtual tie with Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher 41% to 40%. Six percent (6%) of Ohio voters favor some other candidate, and 14% are undecided. The former GOP congressman is also essentially even with Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, leading by a similarly insignificant 40% to 38% margin. Five percent (5%) prefer another candidate. Eighteen percent (18%) are not sure how they will vote in this race."

While the Democratic brand has taken a bit of a beating in Ohio recently--the President's approval rating in the state is lower than the national average--the party's candidates for Senator in 2010 seem to have picked up steam: A new Quinnipiac poll reports a improvement for Democrats since their lackluster numbers this summer. The respective primaries of the two parties are as follows: [1] Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate: Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher has a 26% to 17% lead over Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner (D), with 55% still undecided. [2] In the GOP primary, former Rep. Rob Portman (R) leads businessman Tom Ganley (R), 27% to 9%, with 61% still undecided. In the general election, Democrat Fisher tops Portman, 42% to 31%, and beats Ganley 41% to 29%. Brunner tops Portman, 39% to 34%, and beats Ganley 39% to 31%.

According to a new DailyKos/Research 2000 poll on the 2010 election cycle in Ohio reports that if the election were held now, Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland would lead Republican John Kasich in the gubernatorial race, 44% to 39%. In the U.S. Senate race, the Democratic primary is unclear, with no real leader and the lion's share of voters undecided at this early stage: Democrat Lee Fisher leads Jennifer Brunner 22% to 17%. Significantly, both Democrats edge presumptive Republican nominee Rob Portman in a hypothetical general election match up. Fisher leads, 42% to 35%, and Brunner leads, 40% to 36%.

A Quinnipiac University survey suggests that incumbent Democratic Governor Ted strickland of Ohio may be in trouble with votes: "His approval rating--at 46% positive, 42% negative, is down considerably from the 57% to 29% rating he received in the organization's May 6 survey. "This is Gov. Strickland's lowest approval rating since a 45 - 12 score, with 43 percent undecided, February 1, 2007, one month after he took office.  Voters give Gov. Strickland two big thumbs down, disapproving 53 - 33% of the way he is handling the economy and disapproving 53 - 32% of the way he is handling the state budget. Voters also feel 40 - 34%that Gov. Strickland has not kept his campaign promises. These are Strickland's lowest scores on these three measures. U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, a possible Republican challenger in the 2010 Governor's race, has caught up with the struggling Strickland, with 40% to the Governor's 41%, compared to a 48 - 36% Strickland lead May 6. Another challenger, former Congressman John Kasich, trails Strickland 43 - 38 percent, compared to 51 - 32 percent May 6.

A Public Policy Polling survey out of Ohio indicates that incumbent Democratic Governor Ted Strickland's approval rating has declined to 43%. In a hypothetic 2010 general election match up, he leads Republican John Kasich by just two points, 44% to 42%. PPP continues: "Strickland has seen a decline in popularity among both Democrats and Republicans. Where previously 70% of voters within his party gave him good marks, now just 62% do. And the percentage of Republicans disapproving of him has increased from 59% to 72%. His numbers with independents are relatively steady."

A new Public Policy Polling survey suggests that both potential Democratic nominees in Ohio's 2010 US Senate race would defeat their Republican rival in a hypothetical match up in the race to succeeded retiring GOP Sen. George Voinovich: Lee Fisher leads Rob Portman, 41% to 32%; Jennifer Brunner holds a similar 40% to 32% advantage over Portman. PPP continues: "Anyone trying to figure out whether Brunner or Fisher would make a stronger general election candidate or which has a leg up in the primary will not find it from this poll, as their numbers are nearly identical across the board."

According to a new Quinnipiac University survey, the race for the Democratic nomination to seek the Ohio seat of retiring Republican Sen. George Voinovich is "a wide-open affair" while, on the GOP side, former Rep. Rob Portman holds a significant lead: "In general election match-ups, the Democrats come out ahead of the Republicans." For the Democrats, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher leads at 18%, followed by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner at 14% and Rep. Tim Ryan at 12%. As for the Republicans, Portman leads State Auditor Mary Taylor 31% to 14% with 52% undecided. The general election match-ups: Fisher leads Portman 41% to 33% with 24% undecided and Taylor by 41% to 31% with 25% undecided. Brunner bests Portman 39% to 34% with 25% undecided and Taylor by 38% to 31% with 28% undecided.

In a sign that 2010 will not be easy for Republican incumbents, a new Quinnipiac poll reports that two-term Republican U.S. Sen. George Voinovich faces a tough reelection fight in 2010, with 36 percent wanting to give him another term and 35 percent backing an unnamed Democratic candidate, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today . . . Voinovich, who has been a fixture in Ohio politics since winning the first of two terms as Governor in 1990, would have a potentially more difficult challenge for a third term in the U.S. Senate in 2010. Only 44 percent of voters, including a lukewarm 54 percent of Republicans, say he deserves to be reelected.