Ohio: Democrat Brown Leads in Senate Race

Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown holds a five-point lead over Republican challenger Bernie Moreno in Ohio’s closely-watched Senate race.

A new telephone and online survey by Rasmussen Reports and NumbersUSA finds that, if the election were held today, 47% of Likely Ohio voters would vote for Brown and 42% would vote for Moreno. Three percent (3%) say they would vote for some other candidate and eight percent (8%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Immigration could be a factor in the Ohio Senate contest. Brown rates an “F-minus” grade for his immigration record from NumbersUSA. Forty-two percent (42%) of Ohio voters say that makes them less likely to vote for Brown, while just 25% say the “F-minus” grade makes them more likely to vote for Brown, and 26% say it makes no difference.

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The survey of 1,267 Ohio Likely Voters was conducted on August 13-17, 2024, by Rasmussen Reports and NumbersUSA. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Former President Donald Trump holds a seven-point lead – 51% to 44% – over Vice President Kamala Harris in Ohio. Fifty-four percent (54%) of Ohio voters have a favorable impression of Trump, compared to 48% who have a favorable impression of Harris.

Among other findings of the Rasmussen Reports/NumbersUSA survey of Ohio voters:

– In the contest for control of the U.S. House of Representatives, 50% of Ohio voters say that, if the elections for Congress were held today, they would vote for the Republican candidate, while 43% would vote for the Republican candidate. Eight percent (8%) are undecided.

– Thirty-nine (39%) percent of Ohio voters believe that, in general, the immigration policies of the Biden administration have been successful, including 12% who consider them Very Successful, but 54% think Biden’s immigration policies have been unsuccessful, including 41% who say they are Very Unsuccessful.

– While 54% believe Trump’s immigration policies would be better than Biden’s, only 25% say the same of Harris.

– Thirty-five percent (35%) say the economy is the most important issue influencing their vote in the presidential election, followed by border security (18%) and abortion (13%).

– On the issue of illegal immigration, 58% believe the government is doing too little to reduce illegal border crossings and visitor overstays. Just 12% see the government as doing too much immigration enforcement, while 20% consider the level of action about right and another 10% are not sure.

– Fifty-nine percent (59%) agree that the millions of illegal immigrants who have come to the U.S. in the last four years has created a severe shortage of housing, forcing rents and home prices to rise, including 37% who Strongly Agree.

– Sixty-one percent (61%) believe it’s likely that the increased illegal immigration in the past few years was purposely allowed by the Biden administration, including 45% who consider it Very Likely.

– Sixty-eight percent (68%) support legislation to implement E-Verify, which would make it harder for businesses to hire illegal aliens, including 43% who Strongly Support such legislation. Only 21% are opposed to E-Verify legislation.

– Thirty-seven percent (37%) would support legislation to grant amnesty to illegal aliens and allow them to become permanent U.S. residents, while 54% would oppose amnesty legislation and 10% are undecided.

– Fifty-seven percent (57%) would support a policy of deporting all illegal aliens, including 37% who would Strongly Support deportation. Thirty-seven percent (37%) oppose such a policy, including 21% who would Strongly Oppose deportation.

– If given a choice between two candidates, one of whom favored granting amnesty to illegal aliens and one of whom favored deporting all illegal aliens, 51% of Ohio voters would vote for the candidate favoring deportation, while 34% would vote for the amnesty candidate and 15% are not sure.

Trump continues to lead Harris nationally, but the margin is now down to a mere two points.

Most voters don’t believe state officials have done enough to prevent voting by illegal immigrants or to stop outside groups from interfering in elections.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to the public as well as to Platinum Members.

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