Potential voters are swinging toward Democratic incumbents in U.S. Senate races in the key battleground states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida, new Quinnipiac University polls shows.
In Ohio, Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown tops State Treasurer Josh Mandel, the Republican challenger, by a whopping 16 percentage points — 50 percent to 34 percent, the pollster says. That’s 10 points higher than Mr. Brown’s lead over the Republican in a Quinnipiac poll conducted in early May.
In the Pennsylvania, Democratic Sen. Robert Casey Jr., is faring even better, leading Republican challenger Tom Smith by 49 percent to 32 percent. Mr. Casey held a 19-point lead in a poll taken by the university earlier this month.
And in Florida, Sen. Bill Nelson holds a slim 41 percent to 40 percent advantage over Rep. Connie Mack, the leading Republican challenger. Mr. Nelson had a 4-percentage-point lead over Mr. Mack in a Quinnipiac poll taken a week earlier, although the Republican topped the incumbent by 1-point in a poll by the pollster last month.
President Obama also tops presumed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in each state, Quinnipiac polls show.
The telephone surveys, the results of which were released Wednesday, were conducted June 19 through Monday and have an error margin of 2.8 percent.
