Friday, April 30, 2010
By MARC KOVAC
COLUMBUS
Democrats are maintaining small leads over their Republican challengers in the races for Ohio governor and U.S. senator, according to a new poll released Thursday.
Incumbent Gov. Ted Strickland topped Republican John Kasich, 44 percent to 38 percent, essentially matching results from a March survey by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
And both Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner topped Republican Rob Portman for U.S. Senate by 3 to 4 percentage points.
Fisher and Brunner are facing off in next week’s primary for the Democratic nomination for the seat.
“Although Gov. Ted Strickland remains ahead, there are a couple of numbers that might be of some concern to his re- election committee,” Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Polling Institute, said in a released statement. “Only 37 percent of voters say he has kept his campaign promises, and the race remains close even though 62 percent of voters don’t know enough about Kasich to have an opinion of him.”
Brown added, “The Senate numbers reflect the same level of voter unfamiliarity with the candidates, which means that race has a long, long way to go once the Democratic nomination is settled.”
Connecticut-based Quinnipiac regularly gauges Ohioans’ opinions of candidates and issues. Over the past week, it surveyed 1,568 registered voters, asking questions about the two statewide races and about their opinions of President Barack Obama.
More Ohioans disapprove of the way Obama is handling his job, with 45 percent giving him positive marks and 50 percent giving negative marks.
Additionally, 55 percent disapprove of recently passed federal health-care reform.
“The president’s approval has remained in the mid-40s percentage range for six months,” Brown said. “His numbers aren’t great, but they are not awful, either. It’s worth remembering that George W. Bush won re-election in 2004 with those kinds of numbers.”