Brown Edges Ahead of Husted in Ohio Senate Race
ActiVote’s October 31, 2026 Ohio U.S. Senate poll finds that Democrat Sherrod Brown leads Republican Jon Husted by 0.4%. The poll was in the field between October 18 and October 31 (median field date of October 24). The poll was among 400 likely midterm voters and has an average expected error of 4.9%.
Compared with our October 18 poll, the lead has changed hands: Husted led by 0.4%, and Brown now leads by 0.4%.
Brown leads among suburban and urban voters, voters under 30 and aged 65 and older, women, Black voters, voters on low incomes and college-educated voters, and he narrowly leads among graduate degree holders, 51% to 49%. Husted leads among rural voters, voters aged 50 to 64, men, White voters and voters with no more than a high school education, and he narrowly leads among voters aged 30 to 49 and voters on high incomes, both 51% to 49%. Voters on middle incomes are evenly split. These group figures rest on subsamples for which the expected error is considerably larger than the 4.9% for the poll as a whole. Ohio does not register voters by party, so we do not report a breakdown by party affiliation.
Political Spectrum
The following graph shows the support for Brown and Husted among left, moderate left, center, moderate right, and right voters. These groups are defined by splitting the Ohio electorate in 5 equal sized groups of 20% each.
Both candidates hold their own side about equally: each takes 98% of their own wing, and Husted takes 89% of the moderate right against Brown’s 88% of the moderate left. The race is decided in the center, where Brown leads by 53% to 47%.
Want to be included in our next poll? Check out the app!
Check out our polling page for our latest polls. For further details see our FAQs, polling methodology, AAPOR Transparency Initiative disclosures, and accuracy analysis.
 | 400 LV | Unweighted | Weighted | Sherrod Brown | Jon Husted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio | ±4.9% MoE | 100% | 100% | 50.2% | 49.8% |
| Political Spectrum | Left | 26% | 20% | 98% | 2% |
| Moderate Left | 36% | 20% | 88% | 12% | |
| Center | 13% | 20% | 53% | 47% | |
| Moderate Right | 16% | 20% | 11% | 89% | |
| Right | 9% | 20% | 2% | 98% | |
| Region | rural | 33% | 38% | 36% | 64% |
| suburban | 38% | 38% | 54% | 46% | |
| urban | 29% | 24% | 66% | 34% | |
| Age | 18-29 | 36% | 11% | 62% | 38% |
| 30-49 | 40% | 24% | 49% | 51% | |
| 50-64 | 18% | 25% | 45% | 55% | |
| 65+ | 7% | 40% | 52% | 48% | |
| Gender | F | 44% | 53% | 61% | 39% |
| M | 56% | 47% | 38% | 62% | |
| Ethnicity | White | 84% | 86% | 47% | 53% |
| Black | 11% | 10% | 67% | 33% | |
| Income | Low | 36% | 24% | 53% | 47% |
| Middle | 27% | 30% | 50% | 50% | |
| High | 37% | 46% | 49% | 51% | |
| Education | HS | 31% | 27% | 40% | 60% |
| College | 60% | 58% | 55% | 45% | |
| Grad | 9% | 15% | 51% | 49% |