Portman Inches Ahead of Democratic Hopefuls in Ohio Senate Race

Portman, who also served in former President George W. Bush's Cabinet, leads Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher by 39 percent to 36 percent with 24 percent undecided and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner by 38 percent to 34 percent with 27 percent undecided. The margin of error is 2.9 points.

"The Democratic wave that swept through Ohio in 2006 and 2008 may be cresting. The Democratic lead in the Governor's and Senate races has evaporated, and for the first time President Barack Obama is under water in the most important swing state in the country," said Quinnipiac's Peter Brown, referring to the fact that, for the first time in this poll, more voters disapprove of the job Obama is doing than approve of it.

Another Quinnipiac poll, conducted Nov. 5-9, found that former Republican Rep. John Kasich had pulled even with Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland in the latter's race for re-election.

The poll also found that for the first time, Ohio voters split -- 40 percent on each side -- on the question of who is better handling the health care issue, Obama or congressional Republicans. In September, they favored Obama by 49 percent to 28 percent.

As for the Senate contest, the high number of undecided voters in a Democratic primary match-up and the fact that Portman and the two Democrats are still largely unknown statewide would suggest some caution in reading the results of the poll.

In a Democratic primary, Fisher leads Brunner by 24 percent to 22 percent, but 51 percent say they are undecided.

Seventy percent of voters didn't know enough about Portman to express a favorable or unfavorable opinion of him, 61 percent were in that category for Brunner and 58 percent for Fisher.