A new Rasmussen poll of the Ohio governor’s race shows former Rep. John Kasich’s (R-OH) lead over Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland narrowing to the thinnest margin reported by the pollster in months. The survey gives Kasich a 45%-42% edge over Strickland.
Rasmussen’s June and July polling of the race showed Kasich with 5- and 7-point leads over Strickland, who’s been under fire from the Kasich campaign for presiding over a state economy that has shed hundreds of thousands of jobs. Kasich, meanwhile, has taken heat for his previous work with Lehman Brothers, where he was a managing director.
June surveys from Quinnipiac and PPP (D) surveys also showed a tight race. Quinnipiac’s poll put Strickland up five, while PPP had Kasich two points ahead.
The TPM Poll Average of the race shows Kasich and Strickland almost neck-and-neck: Kasich leads 44.4%-43.1%. The margin of error of Rasmussen’s latest poll is ±4.0 percentage points.