Republican Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania both find themselves in tight battles for re-election against Democratic challengers, according to a new poll released Wednesday.
According to the latest Quinnipiac poll, Portman and Toomey are only separated by a single point from former Gov. Ted Strickland and Katie McGinty, who both are looking to give the GOP incumbents a run for their money in their respective states. Portman currently trails the former Ohio governor, 43-42, while Toomey tops McGinty, the former chief of staff to Gov. Tom Wolf, 45-44.
In addition, Florida Rep. Patrick Murphy holds slight leads over a host of potential GOP opponents, leading them by 1-6 point margins, with Reps. Ron DeSantis, David Jolly and Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera faring the best against Murphy. Murphy and the group of Republicans are fighting to fill Sen. Marco Rubio’s seat, who will exit the senate in January.
The new polls come out after Donald Trump became the presumptive Republican presidential nominee last week with his victory in Indiana, which knocked Sen. Ted Cruz out of the race.
In the past week, Portman — who supported the presidential campaign of John Kasich, his home state governor — has come out in support of Trump, all the while shooting down any notion that he could be the billionaire’s running mate.
Toomey, on the other hand, has said that while he is “inclined” support the party’s nominee, he finds Trump’s candidacy “highly problematic,” noting also that Trump wasn’t his “first, second or third choice.” The Pennsylvania senator voted for Cruz in the state’s primary on April 26 and endorsed Rubio before he dropped out in mid-March.
