"There is wide agreement that Sherrod Brown is well-positioned in the U.S. Senate race," said Kyle Kondik, a political analyst at UVA’s Center for Politics, which was a partner in the Ipsos Reuters poll. "He likely will lead the Democratic statewide ticket and national Republicans seem to be focusing on other races at this point. The big question is, can Brown pull [Democratic governor nominee Richard Cordray] and other statewide Democrats over the finish line? My guess is that if the governor's race is very close, the other statewides must be fairly close as well."