Congressman Ted Strickland (D) leads Secretary of State Ken Blackwell (R) by 16-percentage points in the race to become Governor of Ohio. The first Rasmussen Reports election poll conducted following the May 2 Primary Election finds Strickland with 52% of the vote and Blackwell with 36% (see crosstabs).

Strickland won the Democratic Primary with 79% of the vote. Blackwell faced stiffer competition and won the GOP nomination with 56% of the vote.

The candidates began the year much closer than they are today with Strickland leading just 44% to 40% in our January survey. Since then, his lead has been in double digits every month. Our last three surveys found the Democrat at 50% or above each time.

Blackwell had an especially nasty Primary battle with Republican Attorney General Jim Petro.

In Ohio Republicans have occupied the governor's mansion for the past 16 years. But the current governor, Republican Governor Bob Taft, is caught up in scandal and extremely unpopular. Just 2% of voters have a "very favorable" opinion of Taft while 55% have a "very unfavorable" opinion of him.

In the state's Senate race, Democrat Sherrod Brown has pulled ahead of incumbent Senator Mike DeWine (R).

Crosstabs are available for Premium Members.

While Ohio is typically a swing state, voters currently trust Democrats on four of the five major issues we tested in our recent survey. Strickland's party is trusted more on the economy, energy policy, immigration, and Iraq. The only advantage for the GOP is found on national security.

President Bush does very poorly in Ohio as well. Just 25% give him good or excellent marks on immigration and energy policy. Fifty percent (50%) say he is doing a poor job handling the situation in Iraq.

The rolling average of the last three Rasmussen Reports polls shows Strickland leading Blackwell 51% to 37%. That's little changed from a month ago.

Crosstabs are available for Premium Members.