Two new polls show growing support for Sherrod Brown

Independents favor Brown by double-digit margins
 
AMHERST, OH -- Two new polls of likely voters today demonstrated growing support for Sherrod Brown as the Senate race moved into its final weeks.  A Quinnipiac poll showed Brown leading 53 to 41, and an Ohio poll showed Brown leading by 52 to 45.  Support for Brown among independents surged - with a 24-point lead in the Quinnipiac poll and a 30-point lead in the Ohio poll.  The Ohio poll confirmed that 7 in 10 Ohioans believe the state is going in the wrong direction under Senator DeWine.
 
"Ohioans are tired of staying-the-course with Senator DeWine - they can't afford 6 more years of lost jobs, higher costs, and failed war strategies," said Ben LaBolt, spokesman for Representative Brown.  "Even the Republican Party now realizes Senator DeWine's record of selling out middle class families and supporting special interests is costing him support.  Sherrod Brown will continue to gain momentum as he travels the state every waking hour through Election Day discussing his record of standing up for middle class families and his plans to bring a new direction to Ohio."
 
More details on the polls are below:

Brown pulls ahead of DeWine
THE ENQUIRER

Two new polls out this morning show Democrats leading at the top of the ticket: Ted Strickland for governor and Sherrod Brown for senator.

Brown, a Democrat, was favored by 53 percent of voters surveyed in The Quinnipiac University Poll conducted Oct. 10-15, compared to 41 percent who favored DeWine. The same poll found a statistical tie in the race in September.

The survey of 901 likely Ohio voters, conducted by phone, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points. The survey includes 272 self-described white evangelical Christians, with a margin of error of 5.9 percent.age points.

In an Ohio Poll released this morning, Brown led DeWine by 7 points. Strickland led Republican Ken Blackwell by 14 points.

The Ohio Poll of 526 likely voters was conducted Oct. 8 through 14. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.

As the scandal involving former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley's illicit e-mails to underage pages has unfolded, DeWine's support declined among white evangelical Christians, from a 63-27 percent advantage in September to 57-37 percent today.

The survey also found the percentage of likely Ohio voters who disapprove of the job President Bush is doing rose from 55 percent to 57 percent during the month, with 52 percent now saying they would like to see Democrats take over both houses of the Congress.

That sentiment appears to be affecting DeWine, said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

"DeWine is running almost 20 points behind President Bush's showing among white evangelical voters two years ago. It is a sign of overall Republican weakness," he said.

He said the Democratic candidate showed his biggest gains with independent voters, many of whom had been undecided in September.

"Brown has gone from three points down among independent voters, the key to this race, to 24 points up," he said. "It would be reasonable to assume that at least some of that change in voting intention by independents is tied to the national downturn in Republican fortunes in the past month and a heavy preference that the Democrats control Congress."

The university conducts polls in Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Ohio and the nation as a public service and for research.

The Ohio Poll will be out this morning with its latest take on the race for Ohio governor and U.S. Senate in Ohio.

The poll, by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati, will be released at 9 a.m.

Democrat Ted Strickland has a double-digit lead over Republican Ken Blackwell in recent polls measuring the preferences of people likely to vote for governor Nov. 7.
 

10/17/2006 / Permalink / (all tags)