Ohio News by Justin Miller

The economy is Ohio’s most important problem, voters say in a new poll, with Gov. Ted Strickland’s campaign promise to reform education a distant second.

Seventy-seven percent of voters say the economy is the state’s biggest problem according to a survey from Quinnipiac University’s Polling Institute released Thursday. Only five percent of respondents said education was the most important issue facing the state.

Ohio voters want to cut spending and keep taxes at the same rate to balance the state's budget, according to a new poll released by the Quinnipiac University's Polling Institute on Thursday.

The state's budget faces a $640 million deficit for 2009 and at least $4 billion for the biennial budget covering 2010 and 2011.

Ohio voters said they agreed with Gov. Ted Strickland's promise not to raise taxes to balance the budget: 64 to 33 percent.

It hasn’t been a week since the race for the 15th Congressional District ended, but a competitive rematch could be in the making.
U.S. Representative-elect Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Columbus) defeated Steve Stivers (R-Columbus) by 2,311 votes, as tabulated last Sunday. This narrow victory for Kilroy comes after a narrow loss of about 1,000 votes to U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Columbus) in 2006. These twin close elections may indicate a tight 2010 race, especially if Stivers runs again.

U.S. Sen. George Voinovich (R-Cleveland) has a healthy approval rating but has other weaknesses in a new poll released Wednesday.

Voinovich's approval rating stands at 51 percent, according a poll from the Quinnipiac Polling Institute. This and his August approval rating (51 percent) are the highest since March 2007.