All of the negative advertising in the Ohio Senate race is having the effect of making both candidates unpopular with voters in the state. A 42% plurality now disapprove of Sherrod Brown's job performance to only 38% who approve, a net 9 point decline since early May when he was on positive ground at 40/35. But Josh Mandel has seen a similar downward spiral in his numbers- only 24% of voters see him favorably to 39% with a negative opinion, down a net 10 points from 25/30 last month.
The net effect of all this on the horse race? Not much. Brown leads Mandel 46-39, numbers little changed from a 45-37 spread a month ago. Brown's ahead 43-34 with independents, and he's winning over 15% of Republicans while Mandel gets only 12% of Democrats. There are more undecided Republicans than Democrats, so Mandel may have more room for growth than Brown. But for now Brown continues to have the upper hand.
John Kasich remains unpopular, with 40% of voters approving of him to 48% who disapprove. But those are actually the best numbers PPP has found for him since he took office. His numbers have improved a net 16 points since the Senate Bill 5 repeal in early November when he was at 33/57. He's steady with Republicans but has seen his standing get better with both Democrats and independents.
Kasich would have a wider lead over 3 other prominent Democrats we pitted against him in hypothetical matches. It would be 43-36 over Columbus Mayor Mike Coleman, 41-33 over Congressman Tim Ryan, and 45-35 over Congressman Dennis Kucinich. Kucinich has a 26/38 favorability rating statewide with 36% of voters having no opinion about him despite his decades of prominence in Ohio politics.
One final note- despite Kasich's continuing unpopularity, just 29% of voters would recall him if they had the opportunity to 53% who say they would not. That suggests the fever of Democratic voters for recall elections has significantly dissipated after the failure to remove Scott Walker earlier this month.
Full results here
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