Ohio: John R. Kasich

They're skeptical that his school-funding plan will improve education as promised.

And for the first time they don't like how he's handling Ohio's economy.

So perhaps it's not a huge surprise that Strickland's net approval rating in Quinnipiac University's poll is now the lowest since he took office at the beginning of 2007.

"It may be that voters are starting to look at him as part of the economic problem," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the university's Polling Institute. "Up until recently he has had just superb job-approval numbers for a governor in a big two-party state."

Still, the Democrat is ahead in prospective 2010 general-election matchups against two potential GOP opponents: former U.

In the 1990s, the Ohio House, run by Reynoldsburg Republican Jo Ann Davidson, included 14 Republican women; today, there are six.

The biggest reason for the drop-off? Legislative term limits, a 1992 GOP brainstorm that backfired badly on Republicans, plus stick-in-the-mud candidate recruitment by Republican operatives.

Result: Of 27 women in Ohio's legislature, just seven are Republicans. In 1922, the first six women whom voters chose for the General Assembly were all Republicans. If going from six Republican women in the General Assembly in 1923 to seven in 2009 is progress, the sun must set in the morning. Democrats, meanwhile, have steadily gained through shrewd recruitment: Five women are Democratic senators, including Minority Leader Capri S.

Ohioans aren't familiar with the details of Gov. Ted Strickland's new school-funding plan, but they like what they've seen so far, a poll unveiled this morning shows.

A big reason might be that they like Strickland; the survey shows him swamping a pair of possible 2010 challengers, topping former Westerville Congressman John R. Kasich 56 to 26 percent, and former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine 54 percent to 32 percent.

Although fewer than half of those in the Quinnipiac University poll said they were even somewhat familiar with Strickland's plan, 42 percent said it will improve education in Ohio, compared to 22 percent who didn't think it would.

A bare majority -- 51 percent -- back Strickland's proposal to increase Ohio's school year from 180 to 200 days; 42 percent are opposed.