Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald continues to narrow the gap in his probable November match with Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a new poll shows.
Quinnipiac University, in survey results released Wednesday morning, found the Republican incumbent leading his likely Democratic challenger, 43 percent to 38 percent
The survey did not offer Charlie Earl as a choice. Earl, a former Republican state lawmaker, was certified Tuesday as the Libertarian Party’s candidate for governor. Some believe Earl could siphon votes from Kasich, who has upset Tea Party activists and other fiscal conservatives by championing the use of federal dollars to expand Medicaid.
Kasich led FitzGerald by 7 points in the last Quinnipiac poll, conducted late last November. That poll also did not include Earl. And it began a day before FitzGerald chose his original running mate, State Sen. Eric Kearney, who three weeks later left the ticket after his voluminous business and financial problems became a distraction.
The governor has a 51 percent job-approval rating – little changed from 52 percent three months ago. And 42 percent have a favorable opinion of him, up slightly from 41 percent.
When asked simply if Kasich deserves to be re-elected, 46 percent said he did.
Name-recognition has been FitzGerald’s biggest obstacle. A former Lakewood mayor in his first term as county executive, he never before has run for statewide office. When asked if they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of FitzGerald, 70 percent said they did not know enough about him to decide. That number stood at 71 percent in November.
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