Gubernatorial Race
The Fix explains why the national Democratic Party may be leaving Ohio in the first place:
1. New numbers out of Ohio from Quinnipiac University show Republicans running away with the gubernatorial and Senate races even as Democrats insist that they are still in the game in this most critical of electoral battlegrounds.
The Q poll showed former Rep. John Kasich (R) leading Gov. Ted Strickland (D) by 17 points and former Rep. Rob Portman (R) ahead of Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher (D) by 20.
And Strickland does damage control on the corruption sting by calling for the resignation of two indicted judges.
Meanwhile, the Fraternal Order of Police campaigns for Strickland, evidently happy with his new turn toward being hard on crime.
Senatorial Race
Surprisingly, despite their endorsement of Strickland, the Fraternal Order of Police also comes out for Rob Portman, as do other policemen’s unions.
And the Los Angeles Times reports what we’ve known for months — that the blame-Bush strategy is a failure of titanic proportions in Ohio.
House Races
The Columbus Dispatch bemoans confusion in the race for OH-15, accusing both Mary Jo Kilroy and Steve Stivers of lying.
And Chron.com notes that while women are doing well on the right, the number of women in Congress could decline due to some…embarrassing people on the way out:
Despite these assets, it’s possible that the total number of women in Congress could decline for the first time in three decades if a dozen embattled Democratic officeholders such as Murray and Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy of Ohio are unseated. But any Democratic defeats will only magnify the ideological shift among elected women.