After Ohioans cast their vote for a presidential nominee the next thing they’ll see on their ballot is a choice between Republican Sen. Rob Portman and his challenger -- former Gov. Ted Strickland.
As Statehouse correspondent Andy Chow reports, some believe it’s a race that just got a lot tighter.
A national forecast of the big election battles says Ohio went from a state that leaned Sen. Rob Portman’s way to being a toss-up.
Kyle Kondik is with Sabato’s Crystal Ball out of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. He says when the poll numbers for presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump go down, so does Portman’s chances of winning.
“What we’ve seen in recent election cycles is that it’s getting harder and harder for down ballot candidates to separate themselves from the top of the ticket, so if Trump were to lose Ohio by a significant amount he might also drag Portman down with him,” Kondik said.
He adds that more Democrats tend to turnout during presidential elections, another hurdle for Portman.
