Republicans have drawn closer to Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, in the race to flip the seat, according to the latest Emerson College poll results.
Brown, who is running for reelection in November, holds slim leads over each of three candidates vying for the GOP nomination.
The Ohio race could help determine which party wins control of the Senate in the next Congress.
Brown leads Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and businessman Bernie Moreno each by 39% to 37%, and he is ahead of Republican state Sen. Matt Dolan 38%-37%, Emerson College Polling results show.
The latest Emerson survey found a tightening of the election since the November Emerson/Nexstar Media survey, where Brown led Dolan by 3 points, LaRose by 5, and Moreno by 11.
Moreno, the father-in-law of Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, received former President Donald Trump's endorsement at the end of 2023.
"I'm grateful for the support that our grassroots-driven campaign is getting across Ohio," Moreno said, the Washington Examiner reported Thursday. "Republicans in every corner of our state know that I am the candidate with the message and resources to unite our party and defeat Sherrod Brown in November, and I look forward to continuing to share our America First message across our state."
In the GOP primary, 22% of voters say they support Moreno, 21% LaRose, and 15% Dolan. A total of 42% say they remain undecided.
Moreno's primary support has increased 12 percentage points since last month, while LaRose's support increased from 18%, and Dolan's support stayed the same.
"Moreno had the most substantial movement from the November poll following former President Trump's December endorsement," Emerson College Polling Executive Director Spencer Kimball said.
"A quarter [25%] of Trump general election voters support Moreno in the U.S. Senate primary; 20% would support LaRose, and 12% would support Dolan; 42% are still undecided ahead of the primary."
The Republicans trail Brown among independent and women voters.
"Sen. Brown holds an edge among both independent voters and women voters," Kimball said. "Independent voters break for Brown over each of the three Republican candidates: 31% to 21% over Dolan, 34% to 22% over LaRose, 34% to 23% over Moreno.
"Women voters also break for Brown over his potential Republican opponents, while men break for the Republican candidate. Brown leads among women over Dolan 42% to 32%, LaRose 42% to 30%, and Moreno 43% to 30%. Men break for Dolan 43% to 34%, LaRose 44% to 36%, and Moreno 44% to 36%."
Emerson College Polling surveyed 1,844 registered Ohio voters Jan. 23-25 and the results have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points.
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Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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