We have a new snapshot of the mood of the Ohio voter. It’s very early—we still have 11 months before the Nov. 2026 election. We have not even reached the filing deadline for candidates. But a new poll from Emerson College in Boston shows some interesting trends that likely give Ohio Democrats hope and give Republicans pause.
The two top races are essentially tied. In the race for governor, Democrat Amy Acton has a one-point lead over Republican Vivek Ramaswamy—46% to 45%—which is well within the poll’s margin of error. That means the race is effectively tied. The good news for Acton is that she has gained about 11 points on Ramaswamy.
In the race for U.S. Senate, incumbent Jon Husted has a three-point lead over former Senator Sherrod Brown, 49% to 46%—again within the poll’s margin of error. That race has not changed much since August.
Senior director of Emerson College Polling Matt Taglia joins the show.
Snollygoster of the week
This week, Gov. Mike DeWine was really mad.
He called out 15 colleges and universities for not meeting state law requiring education students to be experts in the science of reading—phonics—before they graduate.
Setting aside the fact that this is the issue that riled DeWine up, we took a look at the list of the 15 schools that remain out of compliance with the science of reading law.
Ohio State, Ohio University and Bowling Green are among those schools. But also on the list: Defiance College, the private institution in Defiance, Ohio.
I have no opinion on the science of reading or whether it should be state law. I just love that the school appears to be living up to its name—for now—defying the science of reading law.