Mary Taylor campaign claims gap closing in race for Ohio governor

Past polls show DeWine, and his running mate, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, had leads ranging between 25 and 30 points since January, and a spokesman for his campaign says that’s still the case.

ELECTION 2018: Taylor, DeWine showcase differences as they seek the GOP nomination for Ohio governor

The one-day survey paid for by the Taylor campaign questioned 1,064 likely Republican voters in the May 8 primary election. It shows DeWine ahead of Taylor 42 percent to 32 percent, and with 26 percent of likely voters still undecided, according to the Taylor campaign.

The Taylor campaign’s assessment of the numbers? “Mary Taylor is taking this race away from Mike DeWine,” read a statement sent to this news outlet by the campaign.

Taylor and her running mate Nathan Estruth, of Butler County, have “erased 30 points from this race since January,” according to the campaign.

Several polls since January all show a large DeWine lead.

In January, Fallon Research’s poll showed DeWine leading Taylor by 30 points. In March, SurveyUSA showed DeWine with a 32-point lead. A second Fallon Research poll conducted this month — between April 4 and 7 — shows DeWine with a 22-point lead.

VOTERS GUIDE: Compare the candidates in our Election 2018 Voter Guide

The Taylor poll, conducted by Remington Research Group on April 10, says DeWine has a 10-point lead. Remington was founded Jeff Roe, who also owns Axiom Strategies. Axiom Strategies is consulting for the Taylor campaign.

“You have to be careful looking over any one poll,” said Miami University political science professor John Forren. “One poll is just a snapshot of the time it was taken, and it’s too early to tell if the gap between the candidates is closing.”

Political polls are typically viewed as a whole, Forren said, and they are usually conducted over the course of multiple days.

Ryan Stubenrauch, spokesman for the DeWine campaign, declined to release the results of that campaign’s internal polling but said DeWine has more than the 10-point lead the Taylor campaign claims.

“Our polling is very similar to the publicly released polling,” he said. “It’s not a 40-point race like it once was, but it’s in that 25-point range.”

Election Day is three weeks away.