Quinnipiac OH-GOV: Kaisch Surges

Quinnipiac Ohio Poll conducted 6/26-7/1 of 1259 RVs:

Gov. Ted Strickland (D) 43%
Fmr. Rep. John Kasich (R) 38%

For a while we had dueling polls between Quinnipiac and PPP, but now Quinnipiac blinks by showing a very tight race similar to what PPP has been showing. The 5-point deficit is all that much more impressive when you consider that Quinnipiac had Kasich down by 30 as recently as Februrary 5th. Quinnipiac also keeps testing Fmr. Sen. Mike DeWine (R), but I haven't seen much indication that he's going to run. 42% view Strickland favorably, while 46% of the job he's doing as Governor, but a troubling 33% approve of how he's handling the economy, which could prove a major problem for the first-term Governor. Kasich is essentially a blank slate to Ohio voters, as 67% say they have no opinion of him. Keep an eye on Independent voters, key in evenly divided Ohio-they back Kasich over Strickland 36%-34% and disapprove of Strickland's performance as Governor 45%-42%.

Significant►SLIGHT ADVANTAGE FOR STRICKLAND.