Politics

Howard Wilkinson: Politics and More

0000017a-3b40-d913-abfe-bf44a4f90000Howard Wilkinson joined the WVXU news team as the politics reporter and columnist in April 2012 , after 30 years of covering local, state and national politics for The Cincinnati Enquirer. On this page, you will find his weekly column, Politically Speaking; the Monday morning political chats with News Director Maryanne Zeleznik and other news coverage by Wilkinson. A native of Dayton, Ohio, Wilkinson has covered every Ohio gubernatorial race since 1974, as well as 16 presidential nominating conventions. Along with politics, Wilkinson also covered the 2001 Cincinnati race riots, the Lucasville prison riot in 1993, the Air Canada plane crash at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in 1983, and the 1997 Ohio River flooding. And, given his passion for baseball, you might even find some stories about the Cincinnati Reds here from time to time.

Poll: Kasich's approval numbers strong; Portman's, not so much

91.7 WVXU | By Howard Wilkinson

Published February 10, 2015 at 1:02 PM EST

An independent pollreleased Tuesday found a majority of Ohioans are happy with Gov. John Kasich, but also found that support for U.S. Sen. Rob Portman is generally positive but somewhat soft.

The Quinnipiac University poll showed 40 percent of Ohioans approve of the job Portman is doing, while 21 percent said they disapproved. Ohio’s Democratic senator, Sherrod Brown, had 45 percent job approval.

But on the question of whether or not Portman, who is up for re-election next year, should be given another term, 37 percent said yes and 28 percent said no.

“U.S. Sen. Rob Portman is 10 points short of the 50 percent job approval mark as he begins his quest for a second term, not a place in which an incumbent likes to be,’’ Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac poll, said in release.

“He falls behind even further to 37 percent on the more critical question of whether he should get another six-year term in Washington, D.C., a number that might interest potential challengers,’’ Brown said.

So far, one Democrat has declared that he will run for Portman’s seat – Cincinnati city council member P.G. Sittenfeld. Former Democratic governor Ted Strickland is said to be considering jumping into the race.

The Quinnipiac Poll had much better news for Kasich, who is said to be considering run for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination.

Ohioans are generally pleased with the job Kasich is doing, with 55 percent saying they approve while 30 percent say they disapprove.

Nearly three-fourths of those polled – 72 percent – told the Quinnipiac Poll they are “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with the way things are going in Ohio, while 60 percent said they think the state’s economy is “excellent” or “good.”

“While Gov. John Kasich decides whether or not to take the presidential plunge, he has plenty of good will left with Buckeye voters,’’ Brown said. “With a 55 percent approval rating, he has little to worry about at home.”

From Jan. 22 through Feb. 1, the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute surveyed 943 self-identified registered Ohio voters. The margin of error in the poll is plus or minus 3.2 percent.