A new swing state poll released by Quinnipiac is showing a split on U.S. Senate races, which doesn’t necessarily put the party at risk of losing the Senate, but does make things more difficult in a year where Republicans should be doing well across the board.

Florida

The tragic loss of [mc_name name=’Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’R000595′ ] in the Senate could very well give way to a Democratic replacement, according to the poll results.

In Florida’s 2016 U.S. Senate race, Democratic U.S. [mc_name name=’Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-FL)’ chamber=’house’ mcid=’M001191′ ] leads Republican Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera 37 – 29 percent and tops U.S. [mc_name name=’Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL)’ chamber=’house’ mcid=’D000621′ ] 37 – 30 percent. Democratic U.S. [mc_name name=’Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL)’ chamber=’house’ mcid=’G000556′ ] gets 35 percent to Lopez-Cantera’s 32 percent and leads DeSantis 37 – 31 percent.

The presence of Alan Grayson makes this a much closer game, hence the reason every Republican should support Alan Grayson in the Democratic primary (primary polling shows voters going back and forth between Grayson and Murphy). Proof that God loves Moe Lane would come in the form of Grayson getting the nomination from his party.

Pennsylvania

In a state that the Ace of Spades Decision Desk chief says is the most important in the 2016 cycle, we see the incumbent Republican U.S. Senator enjoying a comfortable lead.

In the 2016 U.S. Senate race, Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey leads Democratic challenger Joe Sestak 49 – 34 percent and tops Democrat Katie McGinty 51 – 31 percent.

Pennsylvania has 20 electoral votes and is usually hard to predict the ways of. There is a big opportunity for Republican presidential candidates to appeal to the blue collar work force there, and as I mentioned recently, Obama’s outright hostility to non-green energies can be a big way to make gains in the state.

Ohio

The state that gave us John Kasich and has caused people to melt down on live television in presidential years is back with not-so-great news for the Republican party.

In the 2016 U.S. Senate race in Ohio, Democratic challenger Ted Strickland has 46 percent, with Republican incumbent Sen. Rob. Portman at 43 percent. Portman leads Cincinnati City Council member P.G. Sittenfeld 49 – 27 percent.

Quinnipiac says it’s “Too close to call,” and we will have to wait and see on this one. Give or take a few points and it’s anyone’s race, but that the Democrats can organize solid competition against an incumbent in a swing state like Ohio doesn’t bode well for the claims that we should have John Kasich on the presidential ticket because Ohio, now does it?

Conclusion

This isn’t very strong news for Republicans, because it does not reflect the strength a lot of Republican voters and commentators feel going into the 2016 election cycle. Swing states are vital places in election years, and if there is a sign that Democrats are making some solid gains in support, resources will have to be redirected to those states pretty soon.

However, it is still a ways away. We’ve got time to see how each candidate in the Senate and Presidential races will handle places like Pennsylvania and Ohio, and we’ll see if they are worthy enough to represent not just the party, but the nation.