COLUMBUS – A claim by the group supporting Ohio’s prescription drug ballot issue that a recent poll shows the race too close to call has opponents declaring that they are on the path to defeating the measure on Nov. 7.
The results of the poll showed that 46 percent of those surveyed were opposed to the measure with 42 percent in favor, a difference that is within the margin of error, Yes on Issue 2 senior advisor Matt Borges said Tuesday.
“Despite the big drug companies spending millions upon millions of dollars in lying, distorted TV ads, this race is too close to call only three weeks away from Election Day,” Borges said.
“One of the iron laws of politics is that the campaign that talks first about poll numbers is losing,” says Dale Butland, communications director for Ohioans Against the Deceptive Rx Ballot Issue.
Issue 2 – known as the Ohio Drug Price Relief Act — would require the state of Ohio to pay no more for pharmaceuticals than the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs pays, which amounts to a 24 percent discount. Borges’ group claims it would save Ohio taxpayer $400 million.
Borges said 12 percent of those polled were undecided but, when the option was removed from the questioning, Yess on Issue 2 pulled ahead by two points, 51 to 49 percent.