In their quest to hold onto the majority, Senate Republicans got some good news Wednesday with swing state polls showing them in the driver’s seat a month before the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
According to new Quinnipiac polls released Wednesday, Sen. Pat Toomey holds a nine-point advantage (49-40 percent) over Democratic challenger Katie McGinty in Pennsylvania, while Florida’s Marco Rubio, who hadn’t announced his re-election bid when the poll was taken, leads Rep. Patrick Murphy (47-40 percent), giving the GOP a boost in two states Donald Trump looks to flip for the Republicans in November.
Overall, Toomey’s lead has increased in a month and a half’s time, growing eight points since Quinnipiac’s May poll, which was taken soon after McGinty took home the Democratic nod over Toomey’s 2010 opponent, former Rep. Joe Sestak.
Rubio announced he was running for a second Senate term Wednesday. No Republican has been able to gain traction against Murphy, with the Democratic congressman holding at least a nine-point lead over all others still in the GOP race.
Additionally, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman remains deadlocked (42 percent each) in his race against former Gov. Ted Strickland, although other metrics are looking up for the incumbent Republican. Notably, Strickland’s favorability rating is underwater for the first time, with only 42 percent looking at him unfavorably, an 11-point jump since Quinnipiac’s last poll in early May, while only 36 percent view him favorably.
However, despite a 39/25 favorability rating for Portman, 34 percent of voters say they don’t know enough about the incumbent, compared to only 19 percent for Strickland. Strickland’s team sought to capitalize only hours after the poll’s release in a new web ad. Portman is looking to change that though, with his campaign in the early stages of a $15 million ad buy through election day.
The top of the ticket, however, could ultimately pose a problem for the trio of Republicans as Donald Trump’s national poll numbers continue to slide. However, he remains competitive with Hillary Clinton in both Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to Quinnipiac. Clinton leads Trump by a eight-point margin in Florida.
