Fox News poll finds Brown leading Ohio Senate race by 8 points as Trump favorability drops

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Former Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) is leading current Sen. Jon Husted (R) in a Senate race in the Buckeye State by 8 points as President Trump’s favorability rating falls in the state.

In the Fox News poll, 53 percent of respondents backed Brown, while 45 percent backed Husted. Two percent were uncertain about whom they supported.

Brown lost his seat to current Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) in 2024, capping an 18-year Senate career when he left office in 2025.

Husted and Brown won their respective primaries last month, setting up a showdown in the fall in one of the most contested midterm races in the country. Husted did not face any competition in his primary, and Brown trounced a long-shot Democratic rival. The two candidates will face off in November for the seat Husted took over after Vice President Vance became a part of the Trump administration.

Republicans are facing a rocky path to the midterms, with Americans expressing concerns about the economy, war in Iran and Trump in recent polling. The war itself has driven up gas prices as a result of the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with the average price of a regular gallon of gas in Ohio at about $4.18 by Thursday morning, up from about $3.06 last year, according to AAA.

In the Fox News poll, 42 percent of respondents said they either felt “strongly” or “somewhat” favorable toward Trump, down 5 points from October 2020. Fifty-seven percent of the respondents said they either felt “somewhat” or “strongly” unfavorable toward the president, up 5 points from October 2020.

According to a polling average from Decision Desk HQ, Trump’s approval rating was sitting at 38.90 percent as of Thursday morning, while his disapproval rating was sitting at 56.8 percent.

The Fox News poll took place between May 28 and June 1, featuring 1,015 registered voters in Ohio and 3 percentage points as its margin of error.

Democrats need to net four Senate seats to take back the majority. That has been seen as a tall task, but Trump’s approval ratings have given the party hope it may be able to capture the upper chamber.

Winning the Ohio race would be critical to this pursuit.

Tags

2026 midterms

Bernie Moreno

Donald Trump

Jon Husted

midterms

Ohio

Sherrod Brown

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