Former Vice President Joe Biden holds the slightest of leads over President Donald Trump in Ohio, according to a poll released on Monday that was conducted by Baldwin Wallace, Ohio Northern, and Oakland (Michigan) Universities.
Biden gets 44.9 percent to Trump’s 44.2 percent in the poll, which was conducted April 20-25.
Ohio was the one Rustbelt swing state that looked to be a relative shoo-in for Trump just months ago, as Robert Alexander, the founding director of Ohio Northern University’s Institute for Civics and Public Policy, noted.
Trump held a 4-point lead in Ohio over Biden in a Great Lakes Poll released in March.
“Ohio is absolutely critical for Trump to score another Electoral College victory this fall. Early on, many thought Ohio wouldn’t be in play,” Alexander said in a statement. “Biden running dead even with Trump in the Buckeye state counters this narrative.”
It will be nearly impossible for Trump to win re-election if he loses Ohio, and a majority of voters in Ohio believe the president took “too long” to start dealing with the coronavirus crisis. The poll found that 48 percent of voters in Ohio have an unfavorable view of Trump compared to 43 percent who view Trump favorably.
In addition, 69 percent of those surveyed disagree with the “liberate” protesters while another 65 disagree with Trump’s encouragement of the protests.
The poll was conduced by Baldwin and Wallace’s Research Institute, in partnership with Ohio Northern and Oakland (Michigan) universities, and its margin of error is +/- 3.7 percentage points.