Dead heat between Republican JD Vance, Democrat Tim Ryan in Ohio Senate race, poll shows

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A new Marist poll released Wednesday shows a dead heat between Republican nominee J.D. Vance and Rep. Tim Ryan, the Democratic nominee, in this year's closely watched Ohio Senate race.

According to the poll of registered voters, Vance holds a slight lead with 46% to Ryan's 45%, while 9% of voters remain undecided less than seven weeks before Election Day.

The margins stayed the same when respondents were asked if they would definitely vote in the November general election, with Vance still holding a lead at 48% to Ryan's 47%, and just 5% remaining undecided.

Ryan holds an advantage over Vance when it comes to independent registered voters with 42% support to Vance's 40%; however, support by gender was split between the two, with 53% of male registered voters favoring Vance and 50% of female registered voters favoring Ryan.

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Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, left, is running against J.D. Vance, a Republican, for Ohio's open Senate seat. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

There was clear division along party lines when respondents were asked which issue was most important to them as they head to the polls. Overall, inflation (36%), preserving democracy (27%) and abortion (18%) were the top three. However, pluralities of Republicans (48%) and independents (39%) agreed that inflation was the most important.

Alternatively, Democrats viewed preserving democracy (39%) and abortion (27%) as most important.

When it came to President Biden's job performance, just 38% of all adults approved of his administration's work, compared to 53% who disapproved. The numbers were similar when narrowed down to registered voters, with 39% approving and 55% disapproving.

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Of those approving and disapproving, just 18% said they strongly approved of Biden's job performance, while 43% said they strongly disapproved.

U.S. Senate Republican candidate JD Vance speaks to the crowd at a rally held by former President Donald Trump in Youngstown, Ohio, on Saturday. Reuters/Gaelen Morse ( )

At the congressional level, 48% of registered voters said they would be supporting the Republican candidate in the district in which they lived, while 42% said they would be supporting the Democrat.

Fox News' Power Rankings rate the Ohio Senate race as "lean Republican," and predict that which party will ultimately control the Senate remains a "toss up." 

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Republicans are still predicted to win control of the House of Representatives. 

The general election will be held Tuesday, Nov. 8.