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Strickland Loses Ground in Ohio Senate Race as Unfavorable Score Ticks Up

Poll shows plurality of Ohio voters view candidate negatively

Ted Strickland / AP
June 22, 2016

Ted Strickland, a Democrat and former governor who is running to unseat Sen. Rob Portman (R., Ohio) in November, has lost ground in the congressional contest as his unfavorable rating has increased.

Strickland and Portman are currently tied at 42 percent in the race, while 11 percent of Ohio voters remain undecided, according to a Quinnipiac swing-state poll released Wednesday. This is the seventh such poll that Quinnipiac has conducted since Strickland announced his candidacy last February, and while previous polling has shown Strickland as much as nine points ahead of the incumbent, his lead has waned over the course of 15 months.

Meanwhile, Strickland’s favorability rating has become negative since last April, when Quinnipiac’s first swing-state poll of the Senate race was conducted. Strickland has gone from a 20-point net favorable rating to a 4-point net unfavorable rating. Currently, 42 percent of Ohio voters view Strickland unfavorably, while 19 percent say they don’t know enough about him to form an opinion.

In contrast, Portman has a net positive favorability rating; 39 percent of Ohio voters view him positively, while a quarter have a negative opinion of the current senator. A plurality of voters approve of the job that he is doing in the Senate.

Strickland, who represented Ohio in Congress during the 1990s and early 2000s before serving one term as the state’s governor, is more well-known that Portman. Thirty-four percent of voters say they haven’t heard enough about Portman to form an opinion, according to the latest poll.

In response to an email from the Washington Free Beacon seeking comment, Strickland campaign spokesman David Bergstein sent a link to a campaign video labeling Portman the "least known man in Ohio."

A spokesman for Portman’s campaign said Strickland will lose support as voters recognize his  "failed" record as governor.

"We are excited about the growing support for Rob Portman across Ohio’s 88 counties as Rob fights for a better future for Ohio families," said spokesperson Michawn Rich. 

"As more Ohio voters realize the Ted Strickland running for Senate is the same Ted Strickland that has a long record of failing to hold China accountable for unfair trade practices and failed Ohio as governor when the state ranked 48th in job creation and lost more than 350,000 jobs--thousands to other states and other countries--Ted Strickland cannot and will not win this race--period."

Strickland faced a primary challenge from two other Democrats earlier this year, during which time his record of supporting gun rights came under question. Strickland, who once earned high ratings from the NRA, has more recently said that he supports some gun-control measures, including a ban on firearm purchases for people on the terror watch list.

Strickland has also faced scrutiny for his work at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank that advocates for progressive environmental policies, between 2014 and 2015 following his governorship. The political arm of the United Mine Workers of America, a union of coal miners, elected to back Portman earlier this month despite having endorsed Strickland in the past.

Each candidate has sought to win over Ohio’s coal-country voters.

The Ohio Senate race has attracted the more outside group spending than any other congressional race this cycle, according to OpenSecrets. More than $15 million has already been spend by outside groups to help each of the candidates in the race.