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.
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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.













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."