Ohio is a typical swing state, having gone to the winning presidential candidate at every election since 1964. Ohio’s two Senate seats are currently split between the two parties.
Both Ohio seats were held by the Democrats from the late 1970s until the early 1990s. In 1994, Mike DeWine (R) won one of Ohio’s Senate seats off the Democrats upon the retirement of Howard Metzenbaum.
Former astronaut John Glenn retired in 1998 from the seat up for election this year, and Ohio Governor George Voinovich (R) won the seat. In 2000, DeWine won re-election, as did Voinovich in 2004.
In 2006, DeWine lost his Senate seat to US Representative Sherrod Brown (D).
This year, George Voinovich is retiring from his Senate seat. The Republican primary was won unopposed by Rob Portman. Portman served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1993 until 2005. Portman served as US Trade Representative from 2005 to 2006, then served as Director of President Bush’s Office of Management and Budget until 2007.
In the Democratic primary, Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher defeated Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, with 55% of the vote.
Portman is in a slight leading position in recent polls, although as recently as June, Fisher was holding a slight lead. Portman also has a massive advantage in terms of cash in hand, and would have to be assumed to be in the lead, although most analysts see the state as a toss-up.
