Neither of the major Republicans considering challenging Strickland next year is close to him in the polls. The Governor would defeat former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine 48 - 36 percent and former Congressman John Kasich 51 - 32 percent. But the GOP might see Strickland's handling of the economy as a potential area to criticize the governor since voters are split 43 - 43 percent on whether they approve of his handling of the issue.
"President Obama's approval rating among Ohio voters has gone from 67 - 16 percent February 6 to 57 - 33 percent March 18, and back to 62 - 31 percent today, with the main shift coming from independent voters who still are taking stock of the new President," said Brown. "The Governor's education plan certainly hasn't caught fire with the electorate and to some degree it is telling that despite his strong popularity, he hasn't been able to get his message across to voters," said Brown. "Critics who say his plan is taking away too much decision-making power from local school officials may be hitting the mark: 39 percent agree Strickland is taking too much power from local officials, 29 percent disagree and 32 percent aren't sure."
President Barack Obama gets a 62 - 31 percent overall approval rating, while Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland's approval is 57 - 29 percent. But only 31 percent say Gov. Strickland's education reform plan will improve education in Ohio and only 19 percent of Ohioans think his plan treats all school districts equally. And 74 percent of voters expect to pay more taxes if Gov. Strickland's plan takes effect. Strickland remains a big favorite for re-election in 2010 and the race for the U.S. Senate seat held by retiring Sen. George Voinovich leans Democratic at this point, regardless of which of the two leading candidates - Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher or Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner - wins the party nomination.
In a GOP gubernatorial primary, DeWine would prevail over Kasich 35 - 23 percent.
In the Senate race, the Democratic nomination is up for grabs with Fisher getting 20 percent in a hypothetical primary, Brunner 16 percent, state lawmaker Tyrone Yates 4 percent and 59 percent not sure. On the GOP side, former Congressman and cabinet member Rob Portman would get 29 percent to State Auditor Mary Taylor's 8 percent and Cleveland area car dealer Tom Ganley's 8 percent, with 54 percent unsure.
Fisher would defeat Portman 42 - 31 percent and Taylor 41 - 29 percent, while Brunner would defeat Taylor 38 - 29 percent and Portman 40 - 32 percent.
"At this point, the Senate candidates all are largely unknown to Ohio voters, even though some of them have been on the political scene for some time," said Brown.
A total of 72 percent of Ohio voters are "not too worried" or "not worried at all" that someone in their family will catch swine flu, and voters say 67 - 31 percent that the media's reaction to swine flu has been "overblown," according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. More affluent and educated voters are more likely to see media coverage as overblown. Only 23 percent of men and 32 percent of women are "very worried" or "somewhat worried" that they or someone close to them will get the flu, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN- uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. And voters say 59 - 35 percent that government reaction to the flu has been "justified" rather than "overblown." "Ohio voters don't seem all that worried about the flu scare at this point," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "They think the government has acted appropriately, but they think the media coverage has been over the top. Interestingly, women are more likely to be worried than men."
From April 28 - May 4, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,079 Ohio voters, with a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points. The survey includes 398 Republicans, with a margin of error of +/-4.9 percentage points, and 437 Democrats with a margin of error of +/-4.7 percentage points.
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