Sen. Jon Husted, the Republican incumbent from Ohio, reportedly now holds a 6-point lead over Democrat Sherrod Brown in the state’s closely watched 2026 Senate race, according to new polling released just days after Brown officially reentered the political arena.
Husted leads Brown 50 percent to 44 percent in an Emerson College poll released Friday, with a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
“In the first public poll following Sherrod Brown’s 2026 campaign kick-off, the former Senator trails the incumbent Jon Husted by six points, though he has a higher name recognition than the first-term Senator,” said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling.
The results suggest that even with the advantage of name recognition and early fundraising, Brown faces an uphill battle in a state that has shifted firmly into Republican territory.
Brown launched his campaign on Monday, less than a year after losing reelection to Republican Bernie Moreno in November. That loss capped off Brown’s long tenure as the last Democrat able to consistently win statewide office in Ohio.
His defeat underscored the extent to which the state, once a political battleground, has grown reliably red.
Nevertheless, Brown’s allies have touted his ability to mount a strong challenge. His campaign announced Tuesday that it raised $3.6 million in the 24 hours after his launch, a number that reflects his enduring connections to Democratic donors.
The Cook Political Report moved its rating of the race from “likely Republican” to “lean Republican” following Brown’s entry, citing his stature as a seasoned candidate.
Still, the road back to the Senate for Brown is far from certain. Ohio remains solidly Republican, a reality highlighted in the same Emerson poll, which found President Donald J.Trump holding a 49 percent approval rating compared with 42 percent disapproval. Trump carried the state twice, winning by roughly 11 points in 2020, and remains a defining presence in Ohio politics.
Husted, meanwhile, enters the race with the advantages of incumbency and the backing of Ohio’s Republican establishment.
He was appointed to the seat earlier this year by Gov. Mike DeWine after Vice President J.D. Vance vacated it to join the White House.
As a former lieutenant governor and longtime figure in Ohio politics, Husted has built credibility with conservative voters while avoiding the bruising losses that have marked Brown’s recent career.
The Emerson poll, conducted Aug. 18-19 among 1,000 registered voters in Ohio, suggests that despite Brown’s immediate fundraising success, many voters remain skeptical about his political comeback.
While Democrats point to his fundraising and recognition as strengths, Republicans see a candidate out of step with an electorate that has decisively turned away from his party.
For now, the numbers underscore Ohio’s continuing transformation into Republican territory. Husted’s early advantage suggests that even a well-known Democrat like Brown faces long odds in a state where Republican leadership—from the governor’s mansion to the White House—has increasingly become the norm.
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