A new poll of the governor’s race shows a dead heat between former federal consumer watchdog Richard Cordray and former U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich in the Democratic primary, though both trail Republican frontrunner Attorney General Mike DeWine in the general election.
Kucinich and Cordray each clock in at 21 percent, with four other candidates in the single digits and 46 percent still undecided as the May 8 primary date approaches. The poll was conducted by SurveyUSA for Cleveland 19 news and has a margin of error of 5.3 percentage points for the primary and 3.5 points for the general election. The survey was taken from March 16 and March 20.
The results indicate Cordray may be struggling to catch on after a strong start both in fundraising and endorsements from figures around the state, while the upstart Kucinich’s aggressive campaign schedule and progressive views may be clicking with Democratic voters.
However, DeWine polled as the odds-on frontrunner in both the Republican governor’s primary and the general election. He bested Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor by 32 percentage points in the primary, led Kucinich 51-38 in a general election matchup and led Cordray 47-39 in a general election matchup, according to the poll.
DeWine has shown a lead in every gubernatorial poll to date, with the closest matchup being from internal Democratic polling from left-leaning Public Policy Polling that showed a near tie with Cordray. Independent polling shows DeWine with a much larger advantage.
The poll also showed U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, with a wide lead in the Senate race, beating both Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci and Republican businessman Mike Gibbons 52-38 in a general election matchup. A recent poll by Baldwin Wallace University also showed Brown leading the race.
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