Kasich And Portman Expand Leads As Campaigns Head For Home Strech (Ohio Governor and Senate races)

Institute for Policy Research (University of Cincinnati) ^ | October 15, 2010 | Eric W. Rademacher & Kimberly Downing, PhD

[Loyal Buckeye]

Cincinnati, OH--With less than three weeks remaining until Election Day, Republicans John Kasich and Rob Portman have expanded their leads in the races for Ohio governor and United States Senate.

These findings are based on the latest Ohio Poll, conducted by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati between October 8 and 13, 2010.

2010 OHIO GUBERNATORIAL RACE: KASICH 51% - STRICKLAND 43%

The latest Ohio Poll finds former U.S. Rep. John Kasich (R) leads Governor Ted Strickland (D) by eight percentage points in the race for Ohio governor. Fifty-one percent of Ohio likely voters say they will vote for Kasich, 43 percent say they will vote for Strickland and six percent are undecided or intend to vote for another candidate on the ballot.

Most likely voters - 85 percent - say they will "definitely vote" for their current choice for governor on Election Day. Kasich leads Strickland, 56 to 41 percent, among these voters. The remaining 15 percent of voters say they "might change their mind" about their current choice. Among these voters, Strickland leads Kasich, 55 to 36 percent.

2010 OHIO U.S. SENATE RACE: PORTMAN 58% - FISHER 36%

The Poll also finds former U.S. Rep. Rob Portman (R) with a wide lead over Lt. Governor Lee Fisher (D) for U.S. Senate. Fifty-eight percent of Ohio likely voters say they will vote for Portman, 36 percent say they will vote for Fisher and six percent are undecided or intend to vote for another candidate.

Most likely voters - 86 percent - say they will "definitely vote" for their current U.S. Senate candidate choice. Portman leads Fisher, 63 to 37 percent, among these voters.

[Loyal Buckeye]

Huge news for John Kasich, who according to the Ohio Poll, leads Ted Strickland by 8 points in the Ohio governor's race. Also, Rob Portman leads Lee Fisher by 22 points in the race for U.S. Senate. The Ohio Poll is a reliable poll IMO. Strickland's support has been pretty stagnant in the 42% to 45% range over the three Ohio Polls taken this summer -- especially not good if you are an incumbent.

[Loyal Buckeye]

Correction: Both authors are PhD’s.

[brownsfan]

Ohio is a mess, and Strickland projects all the competence of a an elderly, confused, uncle.

I think Portman will be good. I’m not sold on Kasich, but anything is better than Strickland.

[GOP_Lady]

Great news! Thanks, Loyal Buckeye! :-)

[Loyal Buckeye]

Ohio is a mess, and Strickland projects all the competence of a an elderly, confused, uncle.

Ohio and most all other states are a 'mess'. We have had a stream of non creative paper pushers as governors. Hopefully, Kasich will break the mold.

[nhwingut]

Portman is a lock.

A Kasich win is huge for the 2012 prez election.

If you look at the big swing states (FL, OH, PA, MI, WI, NM), Repubs are looking good to grab them all. Which is huge for ‘12.

[GOP_Lady]

I think he will.

I see John Kasich as a person who actually gets things done.

[ohiobuckeye1997]

Stickland is the equivalent of a four letter word in many Ohio households, even among some dems. He is a complete failure as gov, yet the NR frikin’ A endorsed him. I was a member, but no longer.

[nascarnation]

glad to see this
my native state needs a lot of help
for some strange reason going back to the days of Howie Metzenbaum there have been some very unrepresentative liberals elected

[irish_links]

Some of the internals are incredible. Take a look at the 20 - 29 year old vote: breaking hard to Kasich and Portman. Even on the surface this is important national news. It suggests that the youth vote is abandoning the Democrats in large numbers But if you scratch the surface it also suggests that the numbers are adjusted to reflect a very low enthusiasm level among young lefty voters. They simply aren't likely to show up on Nov. 2. If it's true in Ohio, it's true across the country. If it happens, the GOP is positioned to regain seats toward the upper end of current estimates. Probably, 50+ in the House and 9 to 11 in the Senate. All the MTV charades in the world won't change this dynamic in three weeks time. Buckle up your seat belts friends.

[jazminerose]

Kasich is a conservative.

This is huge. We just may get Ohio back along with its electoral votes in ‘12.

[DrDeb]

I’m ‘on the ground’ in Ohio and it’s looking good for Kasich, Portman, Chabot (OH1) and Stivers (OH15). [Renacci (OH16) is heading in the right direction!]

The statehouse is looking good as well — we’re poised to win back the state ‘house’ and add to our lead in the state ‘senate’.

[GOP_Lady]

I know this is a little off-topic, but it does relate to our state of Ohio.

I hope I never see another election in this state like the one we had in 2006.

Every single issue on the ballot was awful. Remember those? The smoking ban, the minimum wage law, etc., both of which amended our State Constitution.

[Total Package]

The NRA endorsed Strickland because Kasich voted for the Clinton gun ban.

[SC_Pete]

Kasich better have a good staff. He doesn’t inspire confidence as an executive.