Talk about collateral damage. With just days to go before the June 14 special election primary to replace GOP Rep. Rob Portman (OH-02), Republican congressional candidate Pat DeWine has watched his once substantial lead slip away in the wake of his father's - Sen. Mike DeWine - decision to join the Senate's "Gang of 14," the group that hammered out a compromise on filibusters. There is a very real chance that DeWine, long considered the slam-dunk favorite to replace Portman in Congress, is not going to win this race.
A new poll, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies for former Rep. Bob McEwen (June 1-2 of 300 likely Republican voters), showed McEwen in a statistical tie with DeWine. McEwen was at 24 percent and DeWine was at 23 percent. A poll taken earlier this spring by the Tarrance Group for DeWine (March 29-30 of 400 likely Republican primary voters) showed DeWine with a huge 42-percent to 10-percent lead over McEwen.
The most remarkable finding in the McEwen poll is that Pat DeWine's favorable/unfavorable score is now almost 1-1, 40 percent favorable
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