The latest Ohio polling by Public Policy Polling came out a couple of days ago, and it wasn’t good news for Mitt Romney: his favorability rating in Ohio is below John Kasich-levels, at 28 percent. Twice as many Ohioans (56 percent) have an unfavorable view of Mitt Romney.
Commenting on Romney’s poor Ohio polling numbers, Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern said, “It’s not surprising that Mitt Romney is disliked by a vast majority of Ohioans before he even campaigns here – Ohioans have noticed that he favors the wealthy over the middle class, wanted to let the auto industry die, has made a hard turn to the right to placate the Tea Party and ‘isn’t concerned about the very poor,’ as he said this morning. In a stark contrast, President Obama has continued to focus on helping the middle class by creating jobs, investing in manufacturing and making the bold decision to rescue the US auto industry is what has helped turn around Ohio’s economy – and the people of Ohio know who is on their side.”
The poll also shows Romney losing to Newt Gingrich in the March 6 Republican primary, 26 to 25 percent. This represents an 11-point shift from a January 18 Quinnipiac poll, which had Romney up 10 points. Gingrich leads Romney by 17 among members of the Tea Party.
In addition to a dismal 28 percent overall favorability rating, Romney’s favorability among Republicans is below 50 percent and members of the Tea Party have a negative view of the former Massachusetts governor, compared to a 75-17 percent favorability rating for Santorum and a 60-26 percent favorability rating for Gingrich among this group. Public Policy Polling concludes that “it’s clear that Republicans in [Ohio] simply aren’t that enthusiastic” about Romney.
Read the complete poll results here.