Strickland and Kasich Tied in Ohio Governor Race

Ohio's Democratic governor, Ted Strickland, lately has been making gains in his bid for re-election after trailing former Rep. John Kasich in a series of polls. In the latest Rasmussen Reports survey, conducted March 30, he is in a statistical tie with the Republican.

Kasich leads 46 percent to 45 percent with 2 percent preferring some other candidate and 7 percent undecided. In March, Kasich's margin was 49 percent to 38 percent, and in February it was 47 percent to 41 percent. The margin of error is 4.5 points.

A Quinnipiac University poll that was conducted March 23-29 and released Wednesday had Strickland leading Kasich 43 percent to 38 percent with 17 percent undecided. The margin of error was 2.5 points.

Both polls differed from a Public Policy Polling survey conducted March 20-21 that had Kasich ahead 42 percent to 37 percent with 21 percent undecided. The margin of error in that poll was 3.9 points.

Strickland, like many other governors, has seen his popularity erode as he struggled with a bad economy and its ripple effects on the state budget. While he's still on the negative side of the ledger on his job approval rating, it is better in the new Rasmussen poll than it was last month. In the previous poll, 53 percent disapproved of his performance (with 26 percent "strongly" disapproving) while 43 percent approved, with 4 percent undecided. In the new poll, 52 percent disapprove while 47 percent approve, with 1 percent undecided. The percentage who "strongly" disapprove dropped 6 points.

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