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Fox News Poll: Gender gap and pocketbook pain shape Ohio Senate race

Powered by a clear favorability advantage, a large gender gap and voter discontent with both household finances and President Donald Trump, former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown has the edge over appointed Republican Sen. Jon Husted in the Ohio Senate race.

A Fox News survey of likely Ohio voters finds Brown leads Husted, 52% to 47%.

Brown’s advantage is anchored by his stronger personal standing, with his favorability rating 2 points above water (50% favorable, 48% unfavorable), while Husted’s rating sits 13 points underwater (42% favorable, 55% unfavorable).

FOX NEWS POLL: COST-OF-LIVING CONCERNS WEIGH ON GOP IN MIDTERMS

More Brown supporters (88%) than Husted backers (83%) say they’re certain of their vote.

FOX NEWS POLL: IT’S A LONE STAR SENATE SHOWDOWN BETWEEN TALARICO AND PAXTON

Economic unease creates another headwind for Husted, as about two and a half times as many voters say their financial situation is worse than two years ago rather than better (46% vs. 19%). Those who say things are worse favor Brown by 49 points, while those who say their finances are better or the same favor Husted by 51 and 24 points, respectively.

The president’s standing in Ohio adds to Husted’s difficulties. Trump won the Buckeye State with 55% of the vote in 2024, but just 43% now approve of his job performance. A 57% majority disapproves, with 46% saying they "strongly" disapprove.

Meanwhile, 52% express concern that Husted is too close to Trump, including 38% who are extremely concerned. Brown faces similar concerns about being too liberal, as 50% are worried, though fewer, 30%, are extremely concerned.

In the matchup, women favor Brown by 14 points, while men support Husted by 4, an 18-point gender gap. Brown also has advantages among voters under 35, voters with a college degree, union voters, and those living in urban and suburban areas. Husted relies on rural communities, non-college White men, married voters, and has a narrow edge among those ages 65 and up.

Partisan crossovers further tilt the field toward the challenger. While Husted receives 90% of Republicans, 9% cross over to back Brown. Some 97% of Democrats support Brown, while just 2% choose Husted — and Brown carries independents by nearly two to one.

Voters who view both Senate candidates unfavorably prefer Husted by nearly 20 points.

Brown is up by 9 points among those who are extremely interested in the election and leads by 29 points among the 15% of Ohioans who say they have already voted.

Legislative preference tilts toward the Democrats, with Ohioans dividing 50% for Democratic control of the U.S. Senate and 48% for Republican control.

In the governor's contest, likely voters favor Democrat Amy Acton over Republican Vivek Ramaswamy by 50% to 48%. Women favor Acton by 10 points, while men back Ramaswamy by 7, a nearly identical gender gap to the Senate race.

CLICK HERE FOR CROSSTABS AND TOPLINE

Ticket splitting goes in both directions: 8% of Brown supporters cross over to Ramaswamy, while 6% of Husted supporters back Acton.

The survey was completed before a negative television ad from Ramaswamy’s campaign, featuring Acton’s estranged mother, became public.

Conducted October 15-19, 2026, under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News Poll includes interviews with a sample of 2,005 Ohio registered voters randomly selected from a statewide voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (219) and cellphones (1,306) or completed the survey online after receiving a text message (480). Results based on the registered voter sample have a margin of sampling error of ±2 percentage points and for the subsample of 1,592 likely voters it is ±2 percentage points. Sampling error for results among subgroups is higher. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can influence results. Sources for developing weight targets include the most recent American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis, and voter file data. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education, and area variables to ensure the demographics of respondents are representative of the registered voter population. Likely voters are based on a probabilistic statistical model that relies on past vote history, interest in the current election, intention to vote, age, education, race, ethnicity, and marital status. Results among subgroups are only shown when the sample size is at least N=100. 

Fox News’ Victoria Balara contributed to this report.

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Fox News Poll: Texas Senate race galloping toward a photo finish

Texas hasn’t gone blue in a statewide race in more than 30 years, but that streak could face a serious test this year. A new Fox News poll finds that while Texas likely voters favor Republicans retaining control of the U.S. Senate and give incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott an edge in his re-election bid, the Senate race remains deadlocked.

The survey, released Wednesday, finds Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton tied at 49% each among Texas likely voters in the race to replace Sen. John Cornyn, who lost the GOP primary to President Trump-backed Paxton.

Last month, Talarico was up by 2 points among likely voters (51%-49%). The shift to a tie reflects Paxton consolidating support among conservatives, rural voters, suburban women and voters who backed Cornyn in the primary.

FOX NEWS POLL: TUREK, HINSON IN CLOSE IOWA SENATE RACE

Although Paxton is falling short of Trump’s 2024 margins, he has strengthened his support a tad among both men (+1) and women (+1) since September, while Talarico slightly lost support (-1 and -2, respectively).

Talarico leads by wide margins among Black voters (+65 points), urban voters (+29), those under age 30 (+28), and women with a college degree (+23). Paxton’s strongest groups include White evangelical Christians (+52), White men without a college degree (+32), rural voters (+21) and those age 65 and up (+18).

The survey finds Hispanic voters swinging back toward the Democrats. After backing former President Joe Biden by 25 points in 2020, they favored Trump by 1 point in 2024, according to the Texas Fox News Voter Analysis. This key voting bloc now favors Talarico by 30 points (64%-34%) and prefers Democratic control of the U.S. Senate by 29 points.

Overall, when it comes to Senate control, Texans choose Republicans by 4 points (51% to 47%), up from +1 point in September.

Talarico’s stronger party loyalty is another reason the race is close: 98% of Democrats support him, compared with 90% of Republicans supporting Paxton. Nearly 3 in 10 non-MAGA Republicans cross party lines to back Talarico.

FOX NEWS POLL: COST-OF-LIVING CONCERNS WEIGH ON GOP IN MIDTERMS

Democrats also retain an enthusiasm edge: 69% are extremely interested in this year’s election, compared with 61% of Republicans. Extremely interested voters back Talarico by 7 points.

"The race is going to come down to two basic questions," says Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who helps conduct the Fox News Poll with Democrat Chris Anderson. "Do disaffected Republicans show up and, if so, do they grit their teeth and vote for a candidate who they have serious reservations about?"

Views of Talarico are net positive, albeit by just 1 point (49% favorable, 48% unfavorable), while Paxton’s ratings are underwater by 17 (41% favorable, 58% unfavorable). Among "double haters," voters who view both candidates negatively, Paxton leads by 50 points.

Voters express similar levels of concern about both candidates: 53% worry Talarico’s positions are too liberal, while 50% are concerned Paxton is too close to Trump. The intensity of these concerns is nearly identical, with 36% extremely concerned about Talarico and 37% about Paxton.

In 2024, Trump won the Lone Star State by nearly 14 points, but his job rating is currently underwater by 9 points (45% approve, 54% disapprove). Still, Paxton draws support from 13% of voters who disapprove of Trump, while 6% of Trump approvers back Talarico.

When it comes to their personal finances, more than twice as many voters say they are worse off (43%) than better off (20%) compared with two years ago; 36% say they are about the same.

Voters who are worse off back Talarico by 45 points, while those who are better off (+49) or about the same (+26) favor Paxton.

The governor’s race gives Republicans more breathing room: Abbott edges his Democratic challenger, Gina Hinojosa, by 5 points (52% to 47%), unchanged since September.

Abbott has a positive job rating (50% approve, 48% disapprove), and nearly all who approve support him in the race, as do 9% of those who disapprove.

CLICK HERE FOR CROSSTABS AND TOPLINE

Abbott also benefits from slightly stronger party loyalty and more ticket-splitting among Talarico supporters: 7% support Abbott, compared with 2% of Paxton supporters who back Hinojosa.

Conducted October 15-19, 2026, under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News Poll includes interviews with a sample of 2,011 Texas registered voters randomly selected from a statewide voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (205) and cellphones (1,303) or completed the survey online after receiving a text message (503). Results based on the registered voter sample have a margin of sampling error of ±2 percentage points, and for the subsample of 1,398 likely voters it is ±2.5 percentage points. Sampling error for results among subgroups is higher. In addition to sampling errors, question wording and order can influence results. Sources for developing weight targets include the most recent American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis and voter file data. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education and area variables to ensure the demographics of respondents are representative of the registered voter population. Likely voters are based on a probabilistic statistical model that relies on past vote history, interest in the current election, intention to vote, age, education, race, ethnicity and marital status. Results among subgroups are only shown when the sample size is at least N=100.

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Trump approval at new lows in polling days before midterms

President Trump’s approval ratings have hit new lows shortly before this year’s midterms, according to fresh polls from The New York Times/Siena University and CNN. In the Times/Siena poll, 36 percent of respondents said they either “strongly approve” or “somewhat approve” of Trump’s job performance, while another 59 percent said they either “somewhat disapprove” or…

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Trump approval at new lows in polling days before midterms

President Trump’s approval ratings have hit new lows shortly before this year’s midterms, according to fresh polls from The New York Times/Siena University and CNN. In the Times/Siena poll, 36 percent of respondents said they either “strongly approve” or “somewhat approve” of Trump’s job performance, while another 59 percent said they either “somewhat disapprove” or…

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Trump Approval Hits New Low Two Weeks Before Midterms, Poll Finds

Likely voters favored Democratic candidates over Republicans by 11 percentage points in their congressional district, a New York Times/Siena poll found.

© Jillian Vordick/The New York Times

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Iowa Poll: Republican Ashley Hinson Maintains Lead Against Democrat Josh Turek in U.S. Senate Race

Polling shows Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) maintaining a lead over her opponent, state Rep. Josh Turek (D-IA), in the U.S. Senate race, while the state's Democrat gubernatorial candidate, Rob Sand, is leading his opponent, Republican Zach Lahn.

The post Iowa Poll: Republican Ashley Hinson Maintains Lead Against Democrat Josh Turek in U.S. Senate Race appeared first on Breitbart.

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Americans saying US on ‘wrong track’ hits record high for second Trump term: Poll

A majority of Americans in a new survey believe the U.S. is on the “wrong track” as the midterms approach, marking a record high during President Trump’s second term. The NBC News Decision Desk poll, using data from SurveyMonkey, found that 71 percent of respondents said the country is heading down the “wrong track.” The…

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How We Reported on the Cornell Case

In our first edition of The Backstory, a new newsletter about Times journalism, we’re diving into coverage of a rape allegation and talking to a critic who says we’re not tough enough on Trump.

© Heather Ainsworth for The New York Times

Students walk past the now shuttered Chi Phi fraternity house at Cornell University.
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Frustrated with Trump, voters overwhelmingly want change, AP-NORC poll finds

A strong majority of voters believe that President Donald Trump is falling short at home and abroad, and they want major change in the upcoming midterm elections, according to a new AP-NORC poll that raises serious warning signs for the Republican Party at a critical moment.

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Trump to campaign in Iowa twice before Election Day

Jeff Kaufmann, chair of the Iowa Republican Party, said Thursday that President Trump will campaign in the Hawkeye State twice before Election Day.  “I just got off the phone with President Trump. He told me that he will be in Iowa on October 22 and November 1. He is anxious for Iowans to hear his…

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A record number of women are poised to enter the next Knesset

While the 2026 election largely ignores gender equality, structural changes in centrist parties and a grassroots ultra-Orthodox movement might be quietly shifting the political map
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Germany: AfD reaches record high 40% in Brandenburg as party continues to dominate in the east

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has reached 40 percent support in Brandenburg for the first time in a new poll, twice the level of the governing Social Democrats (SPD) and enough to make any coalition without the party or its potential partners extremely difficult.

The Insa survey, conducted for the Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung, Märkische Oderzeitung and Lausitzer Rundschau and published this week, put the AfD at 40 percent, up 6 points from the institute’s previous Brandenburg poll in March.

BRANDENBURG | Sonntagsfrage Landtagswahl INSA/MAZ, MOZ, LR AfD: 40% (+6) SPD: 20% (-4) CDU: 9% (-5) LINKE: 9% (+2) BSW: 7% (-1) GRÜNE: 7% (+2) Sonstige: 8% Änderungen zur letzten Umfrage vom 21. März 2026 Verlauf: https://t.co/R7Fb0r9hmo #ltwbb https://t.co/Ww2EhzqHy6

— Deutschland Wählt (@Wahlen_DE) October 9, 2026

The Social Democrats of longtime Minister-President Dietmar Woidke stood at 20 percent, down four points. The Christian Democrats (CDU), the SPD’s current coalition partner, fell five points to 9 percent. The Left Party also reached 9 percent, while the Greens and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) each stood at 7 percent.

It is important to note that the next regular state election is not due until autumn 2029, which means support could shift substantially in three years. Nevertheless, the result for the AfD mirrors nationwide trends, especially in the east of Germany, where the AfD recently won in neighboring Saxony-Anhalt by earning 43.8 percent of the vote in the September election.

Brandenburg’s AfD state leader René Springer called the result “a tremendous vote of confidence” that showed “how great the desire for a political new beginning in Brandenburg is.” He added that the party’s goal remained an absolute majority so it could govern the state alone.

Trouble forming a coalition

The numbers underscore the difficulty of forming a government that excludes both the AfD and the left-wing BSW.

🇩🇪🔴German schools face increasing violence due to mass immigration. In the city of Cottbus, the public prosecutor has launched 18 criminal investigations into cases of serious violence in the migrant-dominated Regine Hildebrandt Primary School. A father from the school told reporters there were "at least two to three attacks" a week before he took his children out of school. He said that the names of the perpetrators were "for example, Ali, Mohammed and Ahmed." The school has drawn national attention due to extreme violence. In an open letter, parents reported physical attacks with serious injuries, including one student who suffered a concussion. In addition, students were using pepper spray, as well as fighting with kicks and punches. Dennis Hohloch, an Alternative for Germany (AfD) MP, said in response: "Immigration is the biggest problem, the biggest safety risk for our children in our schools. We had 3,209 violent offenses at our schools in 2024. If you take the 190 school days a year, that’s 17 violent offenses a day. This figure is 20% higher than 4 years ago. Violence in schools, especially here in Brandenburg, can no longer be minimized or glossed over, even if the SPD and the Ministry of Education keep trying." Brandenburg Interior Minister René Wilke affirmed that the list of criminal offenses in the just one school is "very, very long and varied." He described dangerous bodily harm, threats, insults, and coercion. Wilke described "aggressiveness and willingness to use violence being a prominent dimension." Cottbus Mayor Tobias Schick, who belongs to the far-left SPD, admitted during a press conference in August 2025 that the problem is a consequence "of partly unregulated, partly uncontrolled immigration in recent years."

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) January 16, 2026

The current SPD-CDU coalition would command only 29 percent. In the 2024 state election, the SPD won with 30.9 percent, the AfD finished second with 29.2 percent, the BSW took 13.5 percent and the CDU 12.1 percent.

After that vote, Woidke initially formed a coalition with the BSW; the alliance collapsed earlier this year following internal BSW disputes, including the departure of Finance Minister Robert Crumbach and other lawmakers, and the SPD later reached a new agreement with the CDU.

Given the poll results in Brandenburg, another possible government coalition would involve the BSW and AfD. Currently, in Saxony-Anhalt, both parties are in discussions to form a ruling government. If that government forms and manages to hold together, it could form a template for ruling governments in the east of the country, where AfD and BSW are strongest. At the same time, the AfD is rapidly growing in the west of the country as well, which is key to its national support, as the western states have far higher population numbers and political weight than the east.

The post Germany: AfD reaches record high 40% in Brandenburg as party continues to dominate in the east appeared first on Remix News.

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