Two polls show Blackwell leading GOP for governor

In the Democratic race, Ted Strickland is leading his opponent in both polls.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
As Tuesday's primary nears, Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell leads the race for the Republican nomination for governor, two statewide polls published Sunday indicate.
Blackwell held a 12-point lead over Attorney General Jim Petro in a poll by The Columbus Dispatch, while his lead was 21 percentage points in a poll conducted for The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer.
Democratic voters in the Plain Dealer poll said they preferred U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, 64 percent to 11 percent, over former state Rep. Bryan Flannery. Strickland had a 72-point lead among Democratic voters in the Dispatch poll.
The Plain Dealer poll, which was conducted by Washington-based Mason-Dixon Polling and Research Inc., surveyed 400 likely primary voters from each party from April 24 to Wednesday. The survey had a margin of error of 5 percentage points.
The Dispatch poll, conducted by mail from April 19 through Friday, was based on responses from 2,697 registered Republicans and 2,501 registered Democrats.
It had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Voter's reasoning
Doug Schaffer, a 49-year-old from Hamilton in southwest Ohio who responded to the Dispatch survey, said Blackwell sticks to his values.
"That's what I'm looking for," he said. "The only thing that's going to save this country is people who will stand up for what they believe in."
The Dispatch poll showed 45 percent of the Republicans surveyed considered themselves born-again or evangelical Christians. Blackwell led by 24 points among those voters, but his lead among other Republicans was just 2 points.
Blackwell has emphasized his conservative stances, such as his opposition to abortion and gay marriage, throughout the campaign.
Blackwell spokesman Carlo LoParo told The Plain Dealer that the results of its poll, which showed Blackwell leading 50 percent to 29 percent, were encouraging, but that the campaign was not taking anything for granted.
Petro's campaign manager, Bob Paduchik, said the campaign was not focusing on the polls leading up to the primary.
"We are looking at the final poll on May 2," he told The Plain Dealer.
Bill Russell, a 41-year-old mail carrier from Millfield in southeast Ohio, said he will likely vote for Petro, even though he doesn't particularly like either Republican candidate.
Russell, who responded to the Dispatch poll, said he does like Petro's running mate, state Sen. Joy Padgett, also of southeast Ohio.