Strickland receives 63% approval rating

By Marc Kovac | February 6, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland (D-Lisbon)

Voters seem to like the Ohio Graduation Test requirement.

COLUMBUS — Gov. Ted Strickland remains popular among Ohioans, though most don’t believe his “no new taxes” pledge.

That’s according to a new poll released Thursday by the Connecticut-based Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, which regularly gauges the state’s voters on candidates and issues.

In a survey of 1,127 registered voters conducted over the past week, 63 percent said they approve of the top Democratic officer-holder’s work, with 25 percent disapproving.

They also, by wide margins, would support Strickland over two potential Republican challengers for the governor’s office: John Kasich and Mike DeWine.

But results were mixed on Strickland’s education reform and school funding proposal, unveiled during his State of the State address last month and detailed in his executive budget plan unveiled earlier this week:

UFifty-one percent support Strickland’s proposed lengthening of the school year, versus 42 percent who oppose. But 56 percent oppose longer school days, versus 36 percent that support them.

UBy a margin of 66 percent-30 percent, voters want to keep the existing Ohio Graduation Test, currently required for students seeking high school diplomas.

USixty-two percent of Ohioans support the governor’s push for mandatory all-day kindergarten, while 64 percent support requiring teachers to work nine years before they are eligible for tenure (versus the current three-year requirement).

UAnd 69 percent of those polled think they will end up paying more in taxes, despite Strickland’s repeated statements of opposition to such increases.

“Gov. Ted Strickland has a selling job to do on the graduation test, because voters indicate they like the current graduation requirements or want a tougher standard,” Peter Brown, director of the polling institute, said in a released statement. “And despite the governor’s promises, they do not believe that these changes aren’t going to hit them in the pocketbook.”

He added, “In politics, nothing is as valuable to a politician as a good first impression, and two years into his term, it’s pretty clear that Ted Strickland has made a very good impression on the people of Ohio.”