43
Voters optimistic about Kasich
Photo
Governor John Kasich
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
Ohio voters don’t want Gov. John Kasich and lawmakers to raise taxes, lay off state workers, lease the Ohio Turnpike or hire a private company to run state prisons.
But they also don’t think Kasich will be able to keep his promise not to raise taxes, according to the latest poll by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
“Kasich, however, does have an electorate that is optimistic about his ability to turn the state around,” Peter Brown, assistant director of the institute, said in a released statement. “Voters are aware of the problems facing Ohio: 96 percent call the state’s budget problems ‘very serious’ or ‘somewhat serious,’ the highest level of concern we’ve ever measured in the state.”
Connecticut-based Quinnipiac regularly gauges Ohio voters’ opinions on candidates and issues.
Over the past week, it questioned 1,299 registered voters about state budget issues and the new governor. The results have a margin of error of 2.7 percentage points.
Among the results:
61 percent of voters oppose raising taxes to balance the state budget, but 58 percent don’t believe Kasich will be able to keep his no-tax promise. And half said the governor shouldn’t have signed a no-tax pledge in the first place.
Fifty-one percent of those polled oppose eliminating the state tax on estates, versus 36 percent who support the move.
Fifty-one percent also oppose leasing the Ohio Turnpike or hiring a private company to run state prisons.
Forty-six percent oppose laying off state workers, versus 43 percent who support that move. “For the most part, Ohioans are not receptive to a number of proposals that would cut spending or sell state assets as a way to balance the budget,” Brown said. “Gov. Kasich has a serious selling job on his hands when it comes to convincing the people of Ohio on the wisdom of his ideas.”
Thirty percent of respondents approved of Kasich’s handling of the office so far, while 22 percent did not. Most, however, remain undecided.
Fifty-nine percent are optimistic about the next four years with Kasich as governor.