Ramaswamy leads Democratic candidates in potential Gubernatorial matchups
A new Emerson College Polling survey of the 2026 Ohio Senate race finds incumbent Republican Jon Husted leading former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, 50% to 44%, with 7% of voters undecided. Forty-four percent have a favorable view of Brown, 42% unfavorable, and 14% are neutral or have not heard of the former Senator. A third of voters (33%) have a favorable view of Husted, 28% unfavorable, and 40% are unsure or have never heard of the Senator.
“In the first public poll following Sherrod Brown’s 2026 campaign kick-off, the former Senator trails the incumbent Jon Husted by six points, though he has a higher name recognition than the first-term Senator,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said. “Husted has a 16-point lead among male voters and voters without a college degree, and a 14-point lead among voters over 40. Brown has a 13-point lead among voters under 40, a three-point lead among women voters, and an eight-point lead among independent voters.”
In a hypothetical gubernatorial election between declared candidates Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton, Ramaswamy leads by ten: 49% to 39%, with 12% undecided. In a matchup against Democrat Tim Ryan, Ramaswamy leads 49% to 41%, with 10% undecided.
Job Approval
Forty-nine percent of Ohio voters approve of the job Donald Trump is doing as President, while 42% disapprove. A plurality of voters (40%) disapprove of the job Mike DeWine is doing as Governor, while 32% approve, and 28% are neutral.
Name Recognition
Ohio voters were presented with a list of public figures and asked how favorably or unfavorably they view each person.
2028 Presidential Nomination
Looking ahead to the 2028 Republican nomination for president, Vice President JD Vance leads the Republican field with 55%, followed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (9%), Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (7%), Vivek Ramaswamy (6%), and Nikki Haley (4%).
In the Democratic nomination contest, Gavin Newsom leads with 20%, followed by Pete Buttigieg with 15%, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at 8%, and Tim Walz, Kamala Harris, and Bernie Sanders at 7% respectively.
Ohio Issues
A majority of voters (57%) think mass deportations of undocumented or illegal immigrants in Ohio are a good thing for the state, while 43% think they are a bad thing for Ohio.
- 77% of Ohio Democrats think deportations are a bad thing for the state, 87% of Republicans think they are a good thing, and independents are split: 52% think deportations are good for Ohio, while 48% think they are bad for Ohio.
Ohio voters are split on sending National Guard troops to Washington, DC: 44% approve of Ohio sending troops to the nation’s capital, while 42% disapprove of the action; 14% are unsure.
Voters were asked if they think Ohio Congressional district lines are being drawn fairly, based on what they know, or if they are drawn to give an advantage to the Republican or Democratic Party. A plurality (41%) think they are drawn to give an advantage to the Republicans, 23% think they are drawn fairly, 8% think they are drawn to give an advantage to Democrats, and 29% are unsure.
The economy is the top issue for 44% of Ohio voters, followed by threats to democracy (15%), housing affordability (10%) and healthcare (8%).
“Among voters whose top issue is threats to democracy, 82% think congressional district lines are being drawn to benefit the Republican Party,” Kimball noted.
Methodology
The Emerson College Polling Ohio survey was conducted August 18-19, 2025. The overall sample of Ohio active registered voters, n=1,000, has a credibility interval, similar to a poll’s margin of error (MOE), of +/- 3 percentage points. The 2026 Republican Primary consists of n=490, with a credibility interval of +/- 4.4%. The 2026 Democratic Primary consists of n=383, with a credibility interval of 5.0%.
The data sets were weighted by gender, education, race, age, party registration, and region based on U.S. Census parameters and voter file data.
It is important to remember that subsets based on demographics, such as gender, age, education, and race/ethnicity, carry with them higher credibility intervals, as the sample size is reduced. Survey results should be understood within the poll’s range of scores, and with a confidence interval of 95% a poll will fall outside the range of scores 1 in 20 times.
Data was collected by contacting a voter list of cellphones via MMS-to-web text (list provided by Aristotle), and an online panel and mobile phone panel of voters provided by the Consensus Panel. Panel responses were matched to the Aristotle voter file using respondents’ full name and ZIP code. The survey was offered in English.
All questions asked in this survey with the exact wording, along with full results, demographics, and cross tabulations can be found under Full Results. This survey was funded by Emerson College.
