Two months ago, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, enjoyed a 10-point advantage over his likely Republican challenger in 2010, John Kasich. But now, the two split the vote down the middle, according to a Quinnipiac University poll conducted Nov. 5-9.

Ohio voters see Kasich -- a former congressman (1983-2001) and onetime host of a talk show on the Fox News Channel -- as better able to rebuild the state's economy and handle the budget, the poll found.

The 1,123 Ohio voters who participated in the telephone survey are evenly divided on the governor's race, with Strickland and Kasich each garnering 40 percent of the vote. Strickland's approval rating barely outpaces his disapproval rating, 45 percent to 43 percent, marking his lowest job-performance approval numbers since he took office in 2007.

One year before Ohio voters decide whether or not to re-elect Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, less than half of them approve of his job performance, according to a survey conducted Oct. 14-20 by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati.

According to the survey, 48 percent of respondents said they approve of Strickland's performance as governor and 37 percent said they disapprove. Six months ago, Strickland's numbers were 56 percent approve and 34 percent disapprove.

Barely two in five respondents (41 percent) said they approve of Strickland's handling of the economy, compared to 49 percent who said they disapprove.

Just over a year before the Ohio gubernatorial election, Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland is virtually tied with his likely Republican opponent, former Rep. John Kasich, according to a University of Cincinnati Ohio Poll conducted Oct. 14-16.

Strickland was favored for re-election by 48 percent of the registered voters responding to the survey, while 47 percent said they would vote for Kasich to unseat him.

Strickland, also a former member of Congress, was elected governor as Ohio -- along with much of the industrial Midwest -- was heading into a recession that has been especially hard on heavy manufacturing.

Democrats have slight advantages over Republicans in Ohio's 2010 races for governor and senator, but a lot of voters are still unfamiliar with most of the candidates, according to a Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll conducted July 6-8.

In the Senate race, Republican former Rep. Rob Portman trails Democratic Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher by 42 percent to 35 percent and Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner by 40 percent to 36 percent.

In a Democratic primary, Fisher leads Brunner, 22 percent to 17 percent, with 61 percent undecided.

Though Fisher and Brunner are statewide officials, about half of respondents said they didn't know enough about them to have either a favorable or unfavorable opinion of them. Sixty-two percent of those surveyed said they didn't have an opinion about Portman, a budget and trade official to President George W. Bush.

First-term Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland is looking increasingly vulnerable in 2010 especially if the economy stays in the tank, according to a Quinnipiac University poll conducted June 26 - July 1.

Strickland's favorable-to-unfavorable ratio stands at 42 percent to 37 percent in the current poll compared to 53 percent to 25 percent in May. His job approval rating is down to 46 percent to 42 percent compared to 57 percent to 29 percent in May. Voters say by 40 percent to 34 percent that, so far in his administration, he has not kept his campaign promises. They disapprove of his handling of the economy by 53 percent to 33 percent and of the state budget by a similar margin.

Ohio's Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland looks very vulnerable to a 2010 challenge from former Republican Rep. John Kasich, with Strickland holding only a 44 percent to 42 percent lead with 14 percent undecided in a Public Policy Polling survey conducted June 17-19. The margin of error is 3.9 percent.

Strickland's favorable-to-unfavorable ratio is only 43 percent to 42 percent with 15 percent undecided. Kasich's is 31 percent to 30 percent, but in his case, 39 percent are undecided which is not surprising, since despite his nine terms, he left the House after 2000.