43
Poll puts Strickland ahead of Kasich
By MARC KOVAC
COLUMBUS
Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland continued to outpace Republican challenger John Kasich in their November match-up, though voters disapprove of the governor’s handling of the economy and state budget.
That’s according to the latest poll by Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, which regularly gauges Ohioans’ opinions on candidates and issues.
The Connecticut-based institute questioned 1,107 registered Ohio voters during the past week.
Of that total, 43 percent said they supported Strickland in the gubernatorial election, versus 38 percent who supported Kasich.
The results are essentially unchanged from polls in March and April.
“Incumbents generally start a campaign with a name-recognition edge, and that is certainly the case in the governor’s race,” Peter Brown, assistant director of the institute, said in a released statement. “Sometimes as the challenger becomes better known, the race narrows. That has yet to happen in this case, although the share of voters who do not know enough about Kasich to form an opinion is at 52 percent, down from 62 percent April 29.”
But 54 percent of respondents said they disapproved of the way Strickland was handling the economy, and 52 percent gave him a failing grade on his handling of the state budget.
Forty-eight percent said he had not kept his campaign promises.
“The good news for Strickland is that he is ahead,” Brown said. “Nevertheless, when an incumbent governor is getting less than 45 percent of the vote four months out, it should make him concerned.”
Participants in the latest Quinnipiac poll also said they supported stricter enforcement of immigration laws, with 48 percent approving of the approach taken by Arizona and 28 percent opposing it.
Seventy-nine percent said an economic boycott of that state was a bad idea.
“Ohio voters like the Arizona approach to illegal immigration so much they would like to see a similar law passed in the state Legislature,” Brown said.