The new Rasmussen poll in Ohio gives Republican candidate Rob Portman a small lead in the open Senate race for the seat of retiring GOP Sen. George Voinovich.
Portman, a former Congressman and Bush administration official, leads Democratic Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher by 43%-38%, and leads Dem Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner by 45%-38%. These numbers are not significantly changed from Rasmussen’s poll last month.
From the pollster’s analysis: “Portman’s inability to pull further away and the failure of either of the Democrats to gain traction over the other indicates that voters have yet to pay much attention to the race and that it’s still wide open.”
A Quinnipiac poll from this week gave the Democrats narrow leads over Portman. The TPM Poll Average gives Portman a lead of 40.5%-38.4% over Fisher, and a lead of 41.0%-38.1% over Brunner.