Husted leads Brown in first U.S. Senate poll for 2026 race
By J.D. Davidson
The Center Square
More than a year before the 2026 general election, Sen. Jon Husted leads former Sen. Sherrod Brown in the race for the last two years of Vice President J.D. Vance’s U.S. Senate term, according to a new poll released Friday by Emerson College.
The poll also shows businessman Vivek Ramaswamy holds a large lead over former Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton in a potential race for governor, and nearly half of Ohioans approve of the job President Donald Trump is doing.
The Emerson College poll is the first since Brown announced he would challenge Husted for the seat. It sampled 1,000 active Ohio registered voters by cellphone and has a margin of error of +/-3 percentage points.
Husted led Brown 50% to 44%, with 7% undecided. However, Brown carried a 44% favorable view, while Husted had only a 33% favorable view.
“Husted has a 16-point lead among male voters and voters without a college degree, and a 14-point lead among voters over 40. Brown has a 13-point lead among voters under 40, a three-point lead among women voters, and an eight-point lead among independent voters,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said.
The same poll showed Ramaswamy with a 49% to 39% lead over Acton. Those two are currently the only two declared candidates for governor. Former Congressman Tim Ryan, however, could decide to enter the race.
Nearly half those polled, 49%, approved of the job Trump is doing, while only 32% approved of Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who cannot run for a third term.
Ohio voters continue to prioritize the economy, with 44% saying it is their top concern. Threats to democracy ranked second at 15%, followed by affordable housing (10%) and health care (8%).
“Among voters whose top issue is threats to democracy, 82% think congressional district lines are being drawn to benefit the Republican Party,” Kimball said.
Also, 41% of those surveyed believe Ohio district lines are drawn to give an advantage to Republicans, and only 23% think the lines are drawn fairly.