Ryan, Vance to Face Off, Ohio Second Debate
Newslooks- WASHINGTON
Republican J.D. Vance and Democrat Tim Ryan take the stage Monday at 7 p.m. ET for an hour-long debate in a tight race that could decide which party wins control of the U.S. Senate. The two meet in Youngstown just a week after a first debate in which they clashed over abortion, inflation, Ryan’s support of President Joe Biden, and Vance’s support of former President Donald Trump.
According to USA Today, The debate kicks off only three hours after a new Suffolk University/USA TODAY Network poll poll showed the race remains a statistical tie with Vance up 47.4% to 45.4% – within the margin of error.
Ryan, unsurprisingly, is overwhelming popular among voters concerned about abortion. The congressman has supported legislation that would codify Roe v. Wade and protect the rights of patients to travel out-of-state for abortions.
New poll shows Ryan, Vance neck-and-neck
A Suffolk University/USA TODAY Network poll released Monday found Republican J.D. Vance and Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan remain statistically tied with just three weeks until election day.
The author and venture capitalist leads Ryan by a razor thin margin of 47.4% to 45.4% after trailing in a previous Suffolk poll.
The results were within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. Roughly 6% of voters were unsure who they’ll support. Monday’s poll is in line with other independent surveys that, on average, show Vance with a slight edge in the competitive race to replace retiring GOP Sen. Rob Portman.
It’s a tight race, but Vance still favored
If you look at the most recent polls, Democrat Tim Ryan and Republican J.D. Vance are engaged in one of the closet Senate races of the 2022 cycle.
FiveThirtyEight, a website that measures political data, looked at multiple surveys since the race started and shows Ryan, a 10-term congressman, leading by an average of less than half a percentage point.
Yet political forecasters give Vance, an author and venture capitalist, the edge and rank Ohio as a state that leans in the GOP’s favor.
In part, that’s because the state has been trending Republican in recent years with Sen. Sherrod Brown the only statewide Democrat in office. Another reason for cautiousness is how much previous polling was off.
In 2020, for instance, then-candidate Joe Biden was shown to be leading President Donald Trump in multiple polls heading into Election Day. Trump won Ohio by about 8%.
National Democrats aren’t backing up Ryan
Ryan has been pummeling Vance in terms of campaign fundraising and spending.
The congressman’s campaign for Senate has raised $39 million — and spent $36.9 million — in the race thus far, according to federal campaign finance records. That’s far more than Vance, who has raked in $10.5 million and doled out $6.3 million.
Yet Republicans and their allies are bombarding Ohio voter’s televisions, smartphones and radios in the final weeks.
The money race:Tim Ryan is raising more than J.D. Vance. Can he counter national GOP spending?
Outside groups, led by Senate Leadership Fund — which is Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s campaign arm — have reserved more than $30 million in ads alone on Vance’s behalf.
But Ryan indicated that he isn’t getting the same support from national Democratic groups or Senate Majority PAC, which is aligned with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“We’re out here fighting on our own,” Ryan told NBC News. “I mean, it’s David against Goliath.”
