The final significant special election before the 2018 midterms is coming down to the wire, a good sign for Democrats one week out from election day.
Republican Troy Balderson leads Democrat Danny O’Connor by a statistically insignificant 44 percent to 43 percent, according to a new poll conducted by Monmouth University. That represents a nine-point swing towards O’Connor since the university last polled the race a month ago.
Those numbers are in line with other recent public and private polling that has found a close race in the race’s home stretch, in a suburban and exurban district centered in Columbus, Ohio that President Trump carried by an 11-point margin in 2016 and has long been held by Republicans.
Both parties have been spending heavily on the race to replace retired Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH), which not only is the last major indicator of where the electorate is heading into the final months of the 2018 midterm election campaign but represents a key seat Democrats hope to flip to net the 23 seats they need for a House majority.