John Kasich Ahead of Ted Strickland By 6 Percentage Points

Is the Buckeye State starting to turn red again? What looks to be frustration from the soft job market, Ohio voters are leaning towards Republican John Kasich in the state's govenor race. The Akron Beacon Journal reports that Kasich is ahead of current Govenor Ted Strickland 51%-45%.

They write:

Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, who roared into office three years ago with nearly 61 percent of the vote, trails Republican John Kasich 51-45 percent in an Akron Beacon Journal/Ohio Newspaper Poll released today, Jan. 24.

The great recession has put voters in a sour mood and left them open to change, said Eric Rademacher, poll director.

''If the election were held tomorrow, we might be talking about how a bad economy contributed to a political environment that had voters in the mood to fire their incumbent governor,'' said Rademacher, co-director of the University of Cincinnati's Institute for Policy Research.

Kasich is a former Republican United States Representative and Chairman of the United States House Committee on the Budget. He formerly hosted Heartland with John Kasich on the Fox News Channel and also guest hosted The O'Reilly Factor, filling in for Bill O'Reilly as needed.