Ohio Poll: Obama Support at All Time Low

President Barack Obama's job-approval rating has moved deeply into the negative in Ohio, 40 percent to 57 percent, an all-time low in a state he carried both in 2008 and 2012, a new poll has found.

The Quinnipiac University survey  of registered Ohio voters also found that if the presidential election were held today, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie would be in a dead heat in the critical swing state, each at 42 percent support.

Clinton, however, would beat Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul in a head-to-head contest, 47 percent to 44 percent.

Pointing to Obama's standing with Ohio voters, Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, noted that the state was key to Obama's election wins because of strong showing among independent voters.

But with this latest poll, he said, the president's "fortunes in the Buckeye State have turned."

"Since last December he has lost 10 points among Democrats and 17 points among independent voters. He has gone from a 20-point approval margin among women to a 9-point disapproval margin among female voters."

The findings are significant, as Ohio has proven a bellwether of presidential elections, having sided with every winning candidate in the past seven decades except John F. Kennedy.

The survey conducted June 18-23 among 941 registered voters found that 78 percent of Ohio voters, including 70 percent of voters in households with guns, say they "somewhat" or "strongly" support a law requiring background checks for commercial gun sales.

Forty-five percent of voters, compared to 15 percent, say they take a dimmer view of Republican Sen. Rob Portman for his vote against the defeated background-check bill in the Senate, although his job-approval rating has risen to 44 percent from 40 percent just before the gun vote was taken.

Voters view Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown more favorably for his support of the measure, but his job approval of 46 percent to 38 percent has remained largely unchanged since April.