Incumbent Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown leads his Republican challenger by 7 percentage points in the hotly contested Ohio Senate race, a new poll released Thursday shows.
Forty-eight percent of likely voters in the Buckeye State back Mr. Brown, while 41 percent say they’ll vote for Republican state Treasurer Josh Mandel, according to a Quinnipiac University/CBS News/New York Times survey.
The contest is central to the GOP’s plans to recapture control of the Senate, evidenced by a flood of outside money that’s poured in from groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS super PAC and others. On Wednesday, the Associated Press reported that the race has attracted more outside dollars than any other in the nation.
Among independent voters, the race is nearly dead even, the poll shows. Forty-three percent of likely independent voters say they’ll vote for Mr. Mandel, while 42 percent support Mr. Brown.
