Brown holds 6-point lead over Husted in Ohio Senate race survey

Former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is ahead of incumbent Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) by 6 points in the race for the latter’s seat, according to a new poll.

In the CNN poll, 49 percent of respondents said they were leaning in the direction of Brown if the election occurred that day, while 43 percent said the same of Husted. Five percent said they weren’t leaning in any direction, 2 percent said they were leaning toward someone else and 1 percent had “no opinion.”

The margin of sampling error for the poll is 4.5 percentage points.

Republicans are facing an uphill battle this election cycle, with issues like the unpopular war in Iran, President Trump’s slumping approval rating and concerns about the cost of living weighing the party down as the midterms approach. Meanwhile, Democrats have outperformed their GOP opponents in recent polling.

Trump, whose approval rating in the CNN poll of Ohio voters was 36 percent, is set to campaign with Husted in Youngstown next week, marking his second trip to Ohio in a month. Sixty-four percent in the poll disapproved of Trump’s job performance.

According to a polling average from Decision Desk HQ, Trump’s national approval rating was sitting at 37.4 percent Thursday morning, while his disapproval rating was 60.3 percent.

Trump won Ohio in the last three presidential elections , with former President Obama carrying the state in 2008 and 2012.

The CNN poll took place from Sept. 29 to Oct. 5 and featured 760 registered Ohio voters.