Skip to main content

Jessi Baumert

Jessie Balmert is a state government and politics reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau (Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer) and a guest on the Ohio Politics Explained podcast.

Oct 2, 2026

0:56
What were your main takeaways from these two findings that, you know, are really the key races in our race next month?
1:03
Yeah, it was interesting.
1:04
The US Senate race was kind of in line with what we've been seeing, like a very closely competitive race where maybe Sherrod Brown has a bit of an edge.
1:14
This was within the margin of error, but we've seen some other polls where he has a bit of an edge, in part because the national environment has been really good for Democrats this year.
1:23
Sherrod Brown has really jumped on issues like data centers that are deeply unpopular in this state, and some people think he's still US senator, even though he lost in 2024.
1:34
So, has a bit of an incumbent edge without being the incumbent.
1:38
The, uh, Ohio governor's race, I was a little surprised by the margin, um, that we, this poll had Amy Acton up over Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican candidate in this race.

7 MINS LATER

9:17
You know, I've seen different levels of support for a ban in other polls, but, you know, it was, it was a good question to ask because I think it's going to be a question that remains open, at least as this amendment is floating out there.

We value your privacy

We use cookies to understand how you use our platform and to improve your experience. Click “Accept All” to consent, or “Decline non-essential” to opt out of non-essential cookies. Read our Privacy Policy.