A new poll suggests that Ohio’s high-profile races for governor and U.S. Senate continue to remain neck-and-neck. According to the poll, which was conducted in late June and released on Tuesday by the New York Times, Republican Jon Husted holds a slim three-point lead over Democrat Sherrod Brown in the race for the U.S. Senate.

Key Demographics

Meanwhile, in the race for governor, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton continue to remain exactly even in their levels of support seen across the state. Each result is within the poll’s margin of error. The findings are also consistent with a broader polling trend seen over the past few months that has shown both candidates to be nearly evenly deadlocked in the support that they are garnering from Ohioans.

Notably, this comes as two of the key demographics that are widely credited as being pivotal behind President Donald Trump’s success in the 2024 election — young and non-white voters — appear to be backing Democrats in significant margins in the 2026 midterms in Ohio, according to the poll’s findings. In the Senate race, Brown leads with a 25-point margin among voters between the ages of 18-29.

Economic Conditions

Driving this political opening for Democrats, the poll shows that economic conditions continue to be a significant source of frustration for Ohioans in 2026, with more voters citing the economy as the main issue driving their vote than any other. Providing further potential headwinds for Republicans as they attempt to retain power in the state, just 4% of Ohioans rate the Buckeye State as having an “excellent” economy, while 62% rate Ohio as having either a “fair” or “poor” economy.

Original reporting: WLWT Cincinnati — read the source article.