Today, the Ohio Senate Democrats released the results of a new poll, which shows Crystal Lett in a statistical tie with incumbent Republican Stephanie Kunze in the highly competitive Ohio Senate District 16 (Franklin County).
Joe Biden's numbers in the district also offer positive signs for Lett, with Joe Biden leading Donald Trump 51%-43% (3% third party, 3% undecided).
"These numbers show healthcare champion Crystal Lett in a strong position to flip SD 16 this November," said Millie Vaughan, Executive Director for the Ohio Senate Democrats. "Senator Stephanie Kunze has accepted over $28,000 from groups tied to Larry Householder's bribery scandal, and stayed silent about the corruption swirling around her. We simply can't trust Kunze. Crystal Lett will stand up and fight for safe, healthy families."
When it comes to the issues, it's all about the COVID pandemic in District 16. COVID-related economic recovery, public health response to COVID, and access to healthcare topped the list of issues most important to voters.
Notably the next most important issue to voters was protecting the Second Amendment, followed by protecting public education.
SD 16 voters strongly support former Ohio Health Department Director Dr. Amy Action (+32 net favorability). They support Governor DeWine as well (+13 net favorability), and Planned Parenthood (+ 11 net favorability). 70% support mandating masks in indoor spaces.
Lett's opponent, Stephanie Kunze is most at risk when voters are reminded of her strong ties to the Republican bribery scandal and, related, her support from corporate special interests.
Larry Householder, who sits at the center of the current Republican scandal, has 90% name recognition in SD 16 and is -70 points net favorable with 68% "very unfavorable." This includes -55 points net unfavorable among Republicans.
The sample included 436 likely general voters with a margin of error of 4.7%. Weighting was on gender, race/ethnicity, age, education, and 2016 presidential vote using Ohio’s voter file as a reference.