NEW: GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Opens Massive Lead Over Dem Opponent

A new poll published by Emerson College has found that pharmaceutical executive Vivek Ramaswamy (R-OH), now has an advantage over his opponents in the race for Ohio’s governorship. The poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters between the dates of August 18 to August 19 and contained a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

In a head-to-head contest against former congressman Tim Ryan, Ramaswamy led by 7 percentage points (48 percent to 41 percent). When put up against Amy Acton, the lead was larger at 10 percentage points (48.7 percent to 39.4 percent).

Results also revealed that 38 percent of those who responded to the survey have a favorable view of Ramaswamy, a former presidential candidate, while 35 percent viewed him unfavorably. Acton had a favorability of 27 percent, with 23 percent of respondents viewing her unfavorably. Ryan is viewed favorably by 31 percent of those who participated in the survey, while 25 percent view him unfavorably, Emerson College found.

Daniel Birdsong, a professor of political science at the University of Dayton spoke with Newsweek and said, overall, the advantage going into the election will lie firmly with the Republicans, though the race will still be competitive.

Birdsong believes that unless Ohioans “really sour on Trump,” Ramaswamy will almost assuredly be the GOP nominee for governor. He then said that if Ryan does end up running, he could make the race even tighter for Democrats.

The problem for Acton, Birdsong says, is that she doesn’t have much name recognition among Ohio voters.

A poll that was conducted in July by Impact Research showed a much tighter race than the latest data. That survey found Ramaswamy was only ahead of Acton by a single point (47 percent to 46 percent). The poll surveyed 800 voters between the dates of July 24 to July 28 with a margin of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

“A Bowling Green State University poll from April showed Ramaswamy with a more comfortable lead over Democratic rivals. He led Acton by about five points (50 percent to 45 percent) and Ryan by seven points (51 percent to 44 percent). It surveyed 800 registered voters from April 18 to April 24 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.08 percentage points,” Newsweek’s article pointed out.

Ohio, formerly a major swing state, has recently made a big shift toward the Republican Party, much of which is due to rural areas in the southeastern part of the state, a region that is part of Appalachia.

“For Democrats to win back or make inroads back, they need to look at where they’ve lost and perhaps why they’ve lost in those regions. But also, they might start targeting suburban spaces to try to drive turnout…to counterbalance any losses elsewhere,” Birdsong stated in conclusion. “Which is easier said than done.”