Poll: 60% of Ohioans disapprove of Trump

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(The Center Square) – Sixty percent of Ohio voters disapprove of the job President Donald Trump is doing as the midterm elections approach, according to a new poll from Bowling Green State University.

"Ohio has been one of Donald Trump's strongest states, but our findings suggest voters are becoming increasingly uneasy about him, the direction of the country, and the economy,” Robert Alexander, professor of political science at Bowling Green, said in a statement. “Given that midterm elections are largely about the president’s approval, Democrats are poised to be competitive in a state Republicans have dominated electorally for two decades."

In the contests for governor and U.S. Senate, Democrats and Republicans are statistically tied, the poll showed.

"While Democrats currently hold narrow leads in both contests, voters believe Republicans are more likely to prevail in November,” Alexander said. “This suggests that many Ohioans view the state as fundamentally more favorable for Republicans, even though the current political environment has made it much more difficult for Republican candidates."

In the governor’s race, Amy Acton, a Democrat, has a 3-point lead over Republican Vivek Ramaswamy. In the U.S. Senate race former Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown also leads by 3 points over current Sen. Jon Husted.

On another issue – data centers – Ohioans are less divided.

Nearly 80 percent of Ohioans “favor a temporary ban on the construction of new data centers until more information can be gathered about their effects,” the poll found.

Ohioans generally have high trust for “institutions that directly affect their daily lives,” the poll found.

“Public school teachers and medical experts remain among the most respected groups we measured, even as confidence in many political leaders and institutions remains low,” Alexander said.