9:06 pm ET October 28, 2026
Trump finishes Chillicothe address
President Trump wrapped up his Chillicothe event at around 9 p.m.
8:43 pm ET October 28, 2026
Trump hints Ohio could land Space Academy … if Husted wins
Jessie Balmert
Ohio has a bid to bring the U.S. Space Academy to the state, pitching it as an ideal location because of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and NASA’s Glenn Research Center near Cleveland. Trump hinted he would give it to Ohio if Husted won.
“I want you to know that if Jon Husted wins, I am going to consider putting the Space Academy right here in Ohio,” Trump said. “Everybody wants it.”
8:13 pm ET October 28, 2026
Trump defends Ramaswamy’s use of Acton’s mother in ad
Jessie Balmert
Trump came to Ramaswamy’s defense over the ad featuring his opponent’s estranged mother.
“Vivek was treated very unfairly. He had the mother of his opponent say that her daughter was a liar,” Trump said of the ad. “And the press, the fake news, criticized him.”
“The mother said that Amy Acton, the daughter, is a liar, that she’s no good, that she lied about the opponent. How the hell is that his problem?” Trump asked. Ramaswamy rose to his feet, clapping as the crowd cheered for him.
8:05 pm ET October 28, 2026
Trump takes credit for removing Haitians from Springfield
Jessie Balmert
Trump took credit for removing Haitian immigrants from Springfield, Ohio, by ending their temporary protected status. He said the town had “went to hell.”
“You know what, the Haitians have moved out.”
7:50 pm ET October 28, 2026
Trump urges support for Issue 3
Shelby Reeves
In addition to supporting Republican candidates, Trump also supported Issue 3 which would put the state’s photo ID requirement in the state Constitution.
“They don’t want voter ID, why? Because they want to cheat,” Trump said of Democrats.
7:42 pm ET October 28, 2026
Protesters removed
Shelby Reeves
At least 2 people have been removed from President Trump’s rally in Chillicothe. Protesters started yelling right after Trump began his address.
7:37 pm ET October 28, 2026
Trump praises Husted
Jessie Balmert
President Donald Trump praised Sen. Jon Husted’s football prowess, and said that the Republican senator would win in a fight.
“I looked at him as being a very high-quality, nice man that if I got in a fight with him, I’d rip his heart out, and it probably would have been just the opposite.”
“Boy, oh boy, since I explained to people that he was a phenomenal, not a good, a phenomenal football player, you have really taken on a new life.”
7:35 pm ET October 28, 2026
Trump live now in Chillicothe. Watch now
6:30 pm ET October 28, 2026
Husted says ‘life better’ with Brown out of office
Jessie Balmert
Ohio Sen. Jon Husted talked about how he loved Ohio, which he called the “greatest state in the nation,” and criticized his opponent, Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown.
“He’s been in office for over 50 years. Can you name a single thing that he’s done to make their life better?” Husted asked. “The closest anybody came to giving me a good answer is they said ‘Yes, he lost two years ago to Bernie Moreno, and that made my life better.’”
Husted advocated for prohibiting undocumented immigrants from obtaining driver’s licenses, something that’s illegal in Ohio but not elsewhere.
“Why do people like Sherrod Brown care more about people who are illegally in this country than he cares about you?” Husted asked.
Husted described the final days of the Ohio elections like a slugfest of a football game.
“That’s what happens in a game is that they want to hit you so hard and you want to hit them back so hard that it saps your will, and at some point one team breaks and the other team wins,” Husted told the crowd. “Are you going to break?”
“No,” the crowd replied.
6:25 pm ET October 28, 2026
President Trump has landed in Ohio
Anthony Shoemaker
President Trump landed in Ohio at Rickenbacker International Airport at around 6:05 p.m. on his way to a rally in Chillicothe.
6:11 pm ET October 28, 2026
Ramaswamy says he’ll end sanctuary cities, cut property taxes
Jessie Balmert
Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy criticized Acton for how she handled the COVID-19 pandemic as health director, including closing schools and workplaces. Gov. Mike DeWine has said those decisions were his.
“I am running against a woman who has already shown you who she is and what she’s made of,” Ramaswamy said. “We say ‘absolutely no’ to Amy Acton.”
Ramaswamy pitched ending sanctuary cities and slashing property taxes.
“Put that money in your pocket where it belongs,” Ramaswamy said. He has proposed slashing property taxes back to levels at the end of the pandemic.
Ramaswamy didn’t mention the ad he’s running that features Dr. Amy Acton’s estranged mother. He criticized the media for covering up other aspects of her resume.
6:04 pm ET October 28, 2026
Treasurer candidate Edwards says Brown needs to retire
Shelby Reeves
Ohio treasurer candidate Jay Edwards says people in the Appalachian area of Ohio believe in three things:
God
Guns
Getting illegals out of here.
“We believe if you’re here illegally, it’s time for you to get the hell out of here,” Edwards said. Then, the crowd chanted “deport.”
He said he wants to send Brown to permanent retirement in six days and when Republicans win they will celebrate in Appalachia.
“Sherrod Brown is like a cat that showed up on your porch in 1974, and they just won’t go away,” Edwards said.
5:40 pm ET October 28, 2026
Sprague pushes support for Issue 3
Jessie Balmert
Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague, who is running for Ohio secretary of state, talked about the importance of having photo ID to vote.
“If you have to show photo ID to buy a beer in the state of Ohio, I think that you should have to show a photo ID to be able to vote in the great state of Ohio,” he said.
Issue 3 on the Ohio ballot would put the current photo ID requirement in the Ohio Constitution.
5:31 pm ET October 28, 2026
Protester calls Trump supporters ‘pedophile protectors’
Cole Behrens
Gwyn Stonerock, 63, of Chillicothe was one of around a dozen protestors near the line to enter the rally, and was using a megaphone to lampoon Trump supporters as “pedophile protectors.” A number of Trump supporters engaged with her, including by filming her or insulting her or other protestors.
Stonerock told The Dispatch that she wanted to use her free speech and “protect children.”
“That’s what (Trump) supporters like to do, come up to you and start some problems,” Stonerock said. “They like their rights but they don’t like us to have rights.”
She described herself as a “God-fearing woman” who was sick of the war in Iran and Trump’s approach to the presidency.
“I know God is looking down and thinking ‘What is going on?'” Stonerock said.
5:20 pm ET October 28, 2026
Trump supporter: ‘I’ve never seen a country so divided’
Shelby Reeves
People are traveling from hours away to attend this midterm rally. Greg Craigun from Indiana came with two of his sons because they had never been to a Trump rally and he wanted them to experience it.
For Roger Bellar, 73, of Chillicothe, the event is a little closer to home. This is his second Trump rally
“I had to come here to see him,” said Bellar.
He wants more people to listen to the things he says, as he believes it helps the country, While Bellar isn’t against all Democrats he believes the party often votes down party lines and opposes things just because Trump supports them.
“I’m 73 years old and I’ve never seen a country so divided.”
5:16 pm ET October 28, 2026
President Trump on way to Ohio
Anthony Shoemaker
President Trump has boarded Air Force One on his way to Chillicothe for a rally ahead of Tuesday’s election.
5:07 pm ET October 28, 2026
Trump supporter said Ramaswamy ad featuring Acton’s mom was ‘cruel and rude’
Cole Behrens
Jeff Peecher, 66, says he thinks he got a ticket but was not sure he would be able to get in because of the crowd. He supported Trump in 2024 and said he was hoping to hear how Trump was planning to end the war in Iran.
He said he has gone “both ways” on both Ramaswamy and Husted, and said he has read good things about Vivek and also questionable things about how he amassed his fortune. Regardless, he said he still think he is the “viable” candidate over Acton.
Regarding his attack ad against Acton, he said he thought it was “cruel and rude.”
“But that’s politics,” Peecher said. “They all do it, that’s a little extreme. But that her mother would come on and do that, it means a lot to me too that she would come on and say that. Maybe they were estranged – still.”
3:15 pm ET October 28, 2026
‘It’s not every day you get to see the president’
Cole Behrens
Robert Moore, 57, of Waverly, was attending the Oct. 28 rally because “it’s not every day you get to see the president.” He said he believed Ohio had good Republican candidates across the board.
“(We’re) just hoping to stay supporters, and continue to bring people out and get them to vote,” Moore said.
Moore said he was unconcerned about polling or Republican turnout. He also said Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s attack ad on Democratic candidate Amy Acton featuring her estranged mother doesn’t bother him.
“The political ads are what they are and they’re disgusting on both sides,” Moore said. “Do we want a person that has credibility running a business or a person who crawls under a desk?”
3:00 pm ET October 28, 2026
Chillicothe mayor tells Trump to ‘show some kindness’
Shelby Reeves
Mayor Luke Feeney criticized U.S. Sen. Jon Husted and offered a message to President Donald Trump hours before Trump’s rally in Chillicothe: “Show some kindness.”
Feeney’s criticism centered on the closure of the Pixelle Specialty Solutions paper mill in Chillicothe. When the company announced the mill would close in 2025, Husted was among Ohio politicians who opposed the shutdown. In April 2025, Husted joined U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, Gov. Mike DeWine and others at a news conference supporting hundreds of workers affected by the closure.
Feeney said politicians in Washington failed the area despite promises to help workers.
“A promise means nothing without action,” Feeney said.
Asked about Trump’s visit, Feeney said he believes the president is coming to Chillicothe so close to Election Day because Republicans are worried about the election’s outcome. He said Chillicothe welcomes Trump and his supporters despite their political differences.
“At the end of the day, what I would hope the message I could deliver to him is to show some kindness,” Feeney said.
2:25 pm ET October 28, 2026
Protester: ‘Everything is upside down’
Cole Behrens
Becky Borland, 76, a Chillicothe resident, was among a dozen or so protestors demonstrating around 2 p.m. at the base of the hill leading up to the event center where Trump was speaking.
Borland said she felt the country was broken and Trump was to blame.
“Everything is upside down – everything is for the ultra rich and not for the average person,” Borland said.
As they protested, Trump supporters rolled down their windows and shouted at the demonstrators or expressed their support for the president.
Borland said she says the same thing to each of them: “have a good day.”
“They’re allowed to have their views we’re allowed to have ours,” Borland said. “If it keeps on, we won’t be allowed to – that’s what I’m here for, because democracy is at risk.”
Lisa Wayland, 67, of Chillicothe, was among those protesting the rally. She said she was not against Republicans, she was against Trump.
“This is about morals ethics, bringing dignity back to the White House,” Wayland said.
1:00 pm ET October 28, 2026
Protests begin near Trump rally site
Shelby Reeves
Pam Morrow from Chillicothe joined a protest near where Trump is speaking tonight because she believes America needs a change.
Gayle Mahaffey from Bainbridge came to show that Ross County isn’t entirely Republican and that some residents support Amy Acton for governor and Sherrod Brown for the U.S. Senate.
“Democrats are not completely in the minority here in Chillicothe.”
12:49 pm ET October 28, 2026
Air space restriction near Columbus ahead of Trump visit
Nathan Hart
The Federal Aviation Administration issued temporary flight restrictions around Rickenbacker International Airport on Oct. 28, ahead of President Donald Trump’s expected arrival in Ohio for a midterm rally in Chillicothe.
Trump has not officially announced his travel plans for the rally, but the FAA issued the restriction, a temporary no-fly zone, centered on Rickenbacker.
The restriction will be in place from 3:30 p.m. to 11:15 p.m. Oct. 28, during the period when Trump is expected to travel to Ohio, attend the rally and return to Washington. There is also a temporary flight restriction over Chillicothe from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Oct. 28.
11:56 am ET October 28, 2026
Today’s stop is Trump’s third to Ohio in recent weeks
Jessie Balmert
Trump’s frequent rallies in Ohio underscore the competitiveness of a state that hasn’t elected a Democratic governor since 2006. He’s already campaigned in Vandalia near Dayton, Youngstown and in northern Kentucky across the river from Cincinnati.
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance has made recent stops inthe Cincinnati area and Lima.Today, Trump is campaigning in Ross County, which he won three times, including by 39 percentage points in 2024. Chillicothe has faced hardships in the years since. In August 2025, a major employer, the Pixelle Specialty Solutions paper mill, closed and hundreds lost their jobs.
More recently, the plant transitioned to making nitrile gloves. A data center company is leasing some of the land. And U.S. Paper Mill is bringing back some paper production employees.

In a news conference on Wednesday, Mr. Warsh said the Fed would meet eight times next year as usual. But only seven of those meetings will include a vote on interest rates. The eighth “will focus exclusively on broad monetary policy strategy,” he said.
In 2028, the Fed expects to hold just six rate-setting meetings, with two meetings dedicated to discussions of longer-run strategy, Mr. Warsh said.
“Getting policy right involves assessing near-term developments at timely, regular and information rich intervals,” Mr. Warsh said, “but it’s equally important we reserve time and space as an intellectually diverse group for strategic deliberations, for thinking anew about big questions, looking out over longer time horizons.”
Some economists have criticized the idea of holding fewer meetings, arguing it could make it harder for the Fed to respond quickly to changes in inflation and the labor market. The move also fits a pattern during the early months of Mr. Warsh’s chairmanship toward providing less information to investors and the public, reversing a decades-long trend toward greater openness.
Other economists, however, have defended the idea. They argue that providing more time between meetings will make it easier for policymakers to identify meaningful shifts in economic conditions. And they note that the Fed can hold emergency meetings if necessary, as it has done numerous times in the past.
Lisa D. Cook, a Fed governor who President Trump has tried to fire, issued her first-ever dissent on the Fed’s monetary policy settings in favor of a quarter-point increase on Wednesday. She was joined by Beth M. Hammack, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, who has dissented repeatedly this year.
In a statement accompanying the rate decision, the Fed conveyed that it had more work to do to quell inflation, which it described as “elevated.”
At a news conference after the decision, Kevin M. Warsh, the Fed chairman, started with an upbeat assessment of the economy, but stressed that inflation was still too high.
He also said the central bank would cut the number of meetings at which it votes on interest rates. Mr. Warsh said the Fed would still meet eight times in 2027, but one of those meetings would focus “exclusively on broad monetary policy strategy” and would not include a vote on interest rates. Starting in 2028, the Fed plans to dedicate two meetings to such broader strategy.
The Fed gathered days before midterm elections that will decide whether Republicans retain control of Congress and how much scope President Trump will have to enact his agenda in the second half of his term. Affordability issues are central for voters after nearly six years in which inflation has overshot the Fed’s target.
“Politics played no role in the decision,” Mr. Warsh said when asked about the midterms.
Mr. Warsh, who took over as chairman of the Fed in May, has made taming inflation the top priority of his four-year term.
Since officials at the Fed met in September, inflation data has been far from reassuring. Price pressures appear to be broadening out after shocks caused by Mr. Trump’s tariffs and the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. Energy prices have shot higher, threatening to spill over into other goods and services.
The economy has continued to grow at a solid pace despite these headwinds, fueled by an investment boom stemming from companies scrambling to expand their artificial intelligence capabilities. Wage gains have failed to keep up with rising prices, however, meaning Americans are earning less for an hour of work.
U.S. government borrowing costs have risen sharply, making not only mortgages and other consumer loans more expensive, but also financing for companies. Certain A.I. companies, which have issued a significant amount of debt to fund their expansion plans, appear particularly exposed.
As a result, financial conditions, which track the availability of credit across the economy, appear slightly less accommodative. To what extent this will help the Fed tame inflation depends in large part on whether these conditions tighten further.
Ms. Hammack’s dissent on Wednesday was widely expected given her views that the Fed’s policy settings are not restraining the economy. Ms. Cook’s dissent was notable in that she is locked in a legal battle with Mr. Trump, who has sought to pressure the Fed into lowering rates. Ms. Cook became a target in the summer of 2025 when the president seized on unproven allegations that she committed mortgage fraud before joining the central bank.
Mr. Trump renewed that effort after the Supreme Court ruled against him on the matter earlier this year. The White House started its own investigation into Ms. Cook and summoned her in for an in-person hearing.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday held its benchmark interest rate steady amid elevated inflation as policymakers opted to wait for additional economic data after hiking rates in September.
Fed policymakers voted 10-2 to leave the federal funds rate at its target range of 3.75% to 4%. The move follows a 25-basis-point rate hike in September, which was the central bank’s first interest rate increase since July 2023.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the central bank’s panel responsible for monetary policy moves, noted that economic activity “is expanding at a strong pace” despite uncertainty that is in part due to geopolitical developments, with strong productivity growth and capital investment, while job growth has “kept pace with the workforce, and the unemployment rate has changed little.”
The FOMC statement added that inflation remains elevated and that the “accumulation of more information will help the Committee determine the policy stance appropriate to ensure a timely return of inflation to the Committee’s 2% goal. The Committee will deliver price stability.”
WHY THE FED ISN’T READY TO DECLARE VICTORY ON INFLATION
There were two dissenters from the FOMC decision to leave interest rates unchanged: Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack and Fed Governor Lisa Cook each voted in favor of hiking interest rates by 25 basis points.
Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said that policymakers go through a process of “interrogating reality” as they assess economic conditions at each FOMC meeting, adding that the process has been complicated by high levels of investment, a steady labor market and elevated inflation.
Warsh noted that the labor market conditions are “quite positive” on that side of the Fed’s dual mandate, which is to promote full employment, but added that on the price stability side of the mandate “Americans, of course, are still dealing with inflation that has been running above the committee’s objective for close to six years. It’s our responsibility to get inflation down.”
He said that since the Fed hiked rates by 25 basis points in September, policymakers have seen that financial and credit conditions have tightened for some businesses and households “much as we would expect.”
Warsh added that market participants are “becoming somewhat more discerning in their capital allocations. And while overall financial conditions are tighter, I’m unwilling and unable to call them tight. But broadly, these developments go in the direction of achieving a longer, more durable period of economic growth and price stability.”
The Fed chair also offered an update on the FOMC’s review of its meeting schedule, saying that starting next year the FOMC will hold still hold eight meetings per year, but one of those meetings in 2027 “will focus exclusively on broad monetary policy strategy, with neither a vote on the federal funds rate nor a policy statement anticipated. The rest will be regular FOMC policy-setting meetings.”
Warsh added that in 2028 he expects the FOMC will have two meetings dedicated to strategy discussions, with six related to policy decisions.
“Getting policy right involves assessing near-term developments at timely, regular and information-rich intervals, but it’s equally important we reserve time and space as an intellectually diverse group for strategic deliberations, for thinking anew about big questions, looking out over longer time horizons,” he said.
“I believe the setting of the meeting schedule and agenda is more than some administrative detail. It’s an institutional choice affecting the nature and the quality of our deliberations and ultimately, the wisdom of our decisions. It’s yet another change to get the conduct of monetary policy on the right track,” Warsh added.
FEDERAL RESERVE HIKES INTEREST RATES FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2023 AMID STUBBORN INFLATION
During the question-and-answer portion of the briefing, Warsh was asked if the Fed has a soft inflation target given that policymakers held rates steady at this meeting.
“What I can do is tell you there’s no soft inflation target and no implicit inflation target. There’s a target of price stability and it’s 2% as measured by PCE,” Warsh said. “When consumers interrogate reality, they look outside their window too. They go to the gas station too, and they see the prices are up.”
“If you look out over the horizon, if you look at most but not all measures, what you see is households, businesses, financial markets – they have the confidence that they should have that this central bank will deliver price stability,” he added.
The Fed chair was asked by FOX Business’ Edward Lawrence about the correlation between oil prices and inflation, and how fast inflation could fall in response to falling oil prices.
Warsh responded that “to the extent that oil prices were to move lower, again, probably due to geopolitical events, that’s something that we’re going to have to interrogate” in terms of the Fed’s dual mandate, and noted that futures prices for oil have “moved up over the course of the last several weeks, and I can’t help but take note of that too.”
The Fed chair was asked if the midterm elections next week factored into the Fed’s decision to keep interest rates on hold and said that “politics played no role in the decision,” adding that politics and the election weren’t discussed during the meeting and that there is “an information-rich interval in the coming period, having nothing to do with politics.”
WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC CHIEF REVEALS WHY AMERICANS AREN’T FEELING OPTIMISTIC ABOUT ECONOMY
What experts are saying
Kay Haigh, global head and CIO of fixed income and liquidity solutions at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said that the firm expects that the Fed will “resume rate hikes in December.”
“September’s strong CPI print is a reminder that upside inflation risks remain, and the Fed is likelyto look to take out further insurance. While the September dot-plot suggests just one more hike, another increase in energy prices or further strong data prints could bring additional tightening into play next year,” Haigh added.
Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, said that the “Fed has time on its side,” as inflation expectations are anchored and second-round effects are limited to give policymakers “room to wait for more data.”
“AI may be booming, but the broader economy is not firing on all cylinders, and elevated geopolitical uncertainty argues against rushing another hike. But the direction of travel remains clear. The Fed is still taking back some of last year’s rate cuts, and the two dissents underline that tightening bias,” Shah added.
What’s next for the Fed?
The FOMC’s next scheduled interest rate meeting is on Dec. 8-9, when the market anticipates policymakers will hike interest rates.
Following the decision to hold rates steady at the October meeting, the probability of a 25-basis-point hike in December rose to 82.6%, up from 78.3% a day ago, according to the CME FedWatch tool. The odds of rates holding steady were little changed at 16.9%.
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What did the October meeting mean for markets?
The benchmark S&P 500 Index was up 0.26% for the day in the final hour of trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.28% higher, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.17%.

Savannah Chrisley posted a triumphant Instagram selfie with her fiancé, Jason Galanis, amid backlash over their romance.
The pregnant reality star, 29, shared the smiling outdoor snap on her Story Tuesday night, marking the first time she has shown the 56-year-old’s face on her social media account.
“My forever adventure partner,” she captioned the sunny shot, alongside a heart emoji.
The hard-launch came on the heels of Galanis being identified as the father of Chrisley’s first child.
The “Growing Up Chrisley” alum kept her partner’s identity private and his face hidden from the camera when she revealed Tuesday morning that she is engaged and starting a family — but did drop clues.
She shared Galanis’ first name at the time, also telling “Unlocked” podcast listeners they had a “huge” age gap and met “in the world of politics.”
Chrisley fiercely defended the age difference, insisting he “does not look his age, nor does he act his age” with his “great” body and “sharp” mind.
She went on to write via Instagram that her fiancé has been her “safe place” and “protector” during her pregnancy.
Hours later, Galanis’ identity made headlines.
The convicted fraudster, once dubbed “Porn’s New King,” was in prison with Savannah’s dad, Todd Chrisley, at Federal Prison Camp in Pensacola, Florida.
Todd, 57, was serving time for conspiring to defraud banks and evade federal taxes, while Galanis had been found guilty of defrauding a Native American tribe and investors out of tens of millions of dollars.
The latter was sentenced to more than 14 years behind bars and ordered to forfeit about $80 million in proceeds and pay an equal amount in restitution.
The men were both pardoned by President Donald Trump last year.
Savannah, who became involved in criminal justice reform advocacy after her dad and mom Julie Chrisley’s releases, has not specified how she and Galanis first crossed paths.
The couple has been together since 2025, with Galanis proposing that December during a Cayman Islands vacation.
They are expecting to welcome their child in January and tie the knot in May.

Republican Byron Donalds leads Democrat David Jolly 48% to 46% in a new St. Pete Polls survey of the Governor’s race for Florida Politics.
It is the first time in three surveys by the pollster that either candidate has led by more than a tenth of a point. The sample assumes an electorate 12 points more Republican than Democratic. Ballots cast through Tuesday morning are less than a point apart.
Another 3% picked someone else and 3% are undecided. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points, and Donalds’ lead is inside it.
Republicans hold a registration advantage of roughly 1.5 million voters over Democrats, nearly 5.69 million to almost 4.15 million at the Oct. 5 book closing, with another 3.35 million registered to no party. That is R+8 on the rolls. The poll’s sample is R+12.
St. Pete Polls’ mid-September survey had Donalds at 44% and Jolly at 43%, a tenth of a point apart before rounding. Its Oct. 5-7 survey had them tied at 45%, again a tenth of a point apart. Undecided voters have gone from 9% to 7% to 3% across the three polls. Donalds is up 3 points since the October survey and Jolly is up 1. That movement sits inside the margin of error of either poll.
Forty-six percent of respondents said they had already voted. Jolly leads that group 58% to 38%. Donalds leads the 54% who still plan to vote 57% to 34%. In the unweighted sample, 55% of Democrats said they had already voted. Among Republicans, 39% had.
As of Tuesday morning, 1,257,198 Republicans and 1,244,432 Democrats had cast ballots by mail or at early voting sites, per the Division of Elections. That is a Republican edge of 12,766 votes out of 3.15 million cast, four-tenths of a point. Democrats lead the mail vote 643,143 to 529,943. Republicans lead in-person early voting 727,255 to 601,289. At the same point in 2022, Republicans led Democrats in ballots cast by about 177,000.
Reweighted to an R+10 electorate, the same responses produce a 47% to 46% race. At R+9 it is a tie, and at the registration split Jolly is ahead by a point.
Jolly leads independents 56% to 34%, up from 49% to 33% in the October survey. Donalds holds 81% of Republicans and Jolly holds 81% of Democrats. Each takes about 14% of the other party.
Voters 70 and older back Donalds 65% to 31%. Jolly leads every younger group: 60% to 30% among voters under 30, 54% to 37% among those 30 to 49, and 49% to 45% among those 50 to 69.
Donalds leads the Tampa market 52% to 43% and Fort Myers 62% to 35%. Miami and West Palm Beach are tied at 47% apiece, and Orlando is within a point.
The University of North Florida’s survey released last week had Donalds ahead 49% to 47%.
St. Pete Polls surveyed 916 likely voters Oct. 25-27 for Florida Politics, using automated phone calls for 71% of responses and peer-to-peer text messages for 29%. Respondents were drawn at random from the state’s registered voter file as of Oct. 14. Results were weighted by political party, race, age, gender, and media market to match Florida’s active voter population.
The weighted sample is 43% Republican, 31% Democratic, and 27% other. Voters who said they do not plan to vote in the General Election were excluded. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
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