Rasmussen poll: Brown 44%, DeWine 41%

DeWine-vs.-Brown race tight enough to get nasty:

It's hard out here for an Ohio Republican incumbent. Just ask U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine.

After winning a second term six years ago with 61 percent of the vote, DeWine finds himself the underdog, trailing his Democratic challenger in a recent poll.

The Rasmussen Report poll showed seven-term U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Avon, who is giving up his 13th District seat, ahead of DeWine by 44 percent to 41 percent.

The 3-percentage-point lead is within the poll's margin of error of 4.5 percent, but it's the first time that Brown has pulled ahead in any of the six Ohio polls conducted by Rasmussen...

Related: DeWine puts off the tipping point...for now and from tonight's CNN/Lou Dobb's Tonight (emphasis added):

...Tonight, a growing number of our nation's elected representatives are finding their political careers in some jeopardy because they support amnesty for illegal aliens. Those elected officials who decided to vote against the wishes of their constituents could soon find themselves punished by the very same constituents at the polls.

Lisa Sylvester reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Six years ago, Mike DeWine won his Ohio Senate seat with 60 percent of the vote. Fast forward, now the Republican incumbent is trailing his opponent by three percentage points. DeWine's vote last week for a guest worker amnesty bill is further withering his base political support.

ROY BECK, NUMBERSUSA: This year is the year that we could actually see some incumbents lose their office on immigration almost alone...