Photo: Toledo skyline along the Maumee River, July 2022, by MrJacon000, via Wikimedia Commons.

One week before Election Day, two new polls point in opposite directions in the Ohio governor’s race — and both describe an effectively dead heat between Democrat Amy Acton and Republican Vivek Ramaswamy.

A Suffolk University/USA TODAY poll, reported by the Columbus Dispatch, puts Acton at 48%, Ramaswamy at 44% and Libertarian Don Kissick at 3.6%. The poll surveyed 500 likely voters Oct. 21–26, with a margin of error of ±4.4 percentage points. It was conducted after Ramaswamy’s Oct. 22 ad featuring Acton’s estranged mother; 72% of respondents said they had seen or heard the ad, and pollster David Paleologos said it changed few minds — 7 voters moved from Ramaswamy to Acton and 1 moved the other way. Ramaswamy’s unfavorable rating was 54.2%, up from 52.2% in September, while Acton’s unfavorable rating was about 41%, unchanged. Asked who was running a negative campaign, 49.8% named Ramaswamy, 15.2% named Acton and 11.6% said both.

An Echelon Insights poll for NetChoice, a tech industry trade group, reported by WSYX/ABC6, puts Ramaswamy at 47%, Acton at 45% and Kissick at 4%. It surveyed 508 likely voters Oct. 16–23, with a margin of error of 5.2 points — a statistical dead heat. The same poll found 70% support for State Issue 3, the photo-ID amendment, with 28% opposed.

A third survey, by RedBox Research for A Fight Worth Having, a super PAC, found Acton at 48.2% and Ramaswamy at 43.8% among 2,998 likely voters Oct. 20–23, with a margin of error of 4.6 points. That survey also showed Democrat Sherrod Brown at 46.9% and Republican Jon Husted at 44.2% in the U.S. Senate race.

Brandon Freeman, 45, of Toledo told the Dispatch he backs Kissick, criticizing both major candidates’ negative ads. Paleologos said Kissick could matter: among independents in the Suffolk poll, Kissick drew 7%, compared with 58% for Acton and 25% for Ramaswamy.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Related coverage: Ohio early voters flock to polls as mail ballots drop and Toledo schools’ 6.9-mill levy: what it costs you.

Sources: Columbus Dispatch; Echelon Insights report.