COLUMBUS, Ohio – Nine months away from Election Day, Gov. John Kasich is maintaining still holds a narrow lead in one poll over his most likely Democratic challenger, whose biggest problem – and biggest advantage – may be that voters don’t know him.
Kasich leads Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald 43-38 percent in the latest Quinnipiac University poll, practically unchanged from the 44-37 percent margin in November, Peter Brown, assistant director of the university’s Polling Institute, said.
FitzGerald’s biggest hurdle would appear to be name recognition: 70 percent of the registered voters surveyed say they do not know enough about him to have an opinion.
“That is a double-edged sword for the challenger,” Brown says. “It indicates he has not made much headway in the past three months, but it provides him an opportunity to make up ground among the vast number of voters who are unfamiliar with him.”
FitzGerald also faces a primary challenge from an even lesser-known figure. The Ohio Secretary of State’s office said Tuesday that Larry Ealy and his running mate Ken Gray got the signatures needed to appear on May 6 ballots.
The Republican primary field was clear for Kasich after a potential tea party challenge fell through earlier.
Third-party challenger, Libertarian Charlie Earl, also qualified.
In the absence of any heated campaign rhetoric from his opponents, Kasich enjoys a 51 percent job approval rating. Voters say he is a strong leader by a 61-31 percent margin and say 52-35 percent that he is honest and trustworthy, but the numbers are more divided when it comes to the question of whether Kasich cares about voters’ needs and problems: 43 percent say he does; 47 percent say he doesn’t.
Kasich enjoys a lead among Republicans, independents and men while Democrats lean toward FitzGerald.
Kasich and Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan are part of a Wednesday morning forum on manufacturing, innovation and technology changes at Siemens’ motor manufacturing facility in the Cincinnati suburb of Norwood.
The first-term governor will deliver his State of the State address in neighboring Medina on Monday.
FitzGerald is preparing to deliver his State of the County address at noon today.