COLUMBUS – Former Gov. Ted Strickland enjoys a six-point lead over U.S. Sen. Rob Portman in a poll released Monday.
The Democrat (above left), who was unseated by John Kasich in 2010, leads the Republican incumbent (above right) 46 percent to 40 percent, according to the poll by Quinnipiac University.
However, Portman may reap the benefit of Kasich’s popularity in the state where he was reelected by a landslide last year.
“Kasich remains a political icon, while [President Barack] Obama might have difficulty winning in Ohio these days, factors which could boost Sen. Rob Portman’s re-election chances [in 2016],” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Poll.
Kasich has a 60 percent job approval rating, brushing up against his all-time high of 61 percent in April, Brown said.
Portman enjoys a 49 percent job approval rating and 43 percent favorability and tops Cincinnati City Council member P.G. Sittenfeld, his other Democratic challenger, by a margin of 49 percent to 24 percent.
Strickland gets a 47 percent favorability rating, while 85 percent of voters haven’t heard enough about Sittenfeld to form an opinion.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, has a 50 percent job approval rating, Brown said.
Between June 4 and June 15, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,191 Ohio voters. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points.