Ohio gubernatorial election, 2006
Encyclopedia
The Ohio gubernatorial election of 2006 was held on November 7, 2006, and was a race for the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Ohio
. Incumbent Governor Bob Taft
could not run for re-election, as Ohio governors are limited
to two consecutive terms in office.
The general election for governor pitted Ohio Secretary of State
Ken Blackwell
, the Republican nominee, against U.S. Representative
Ted Strickland
of Ohio's 6th congressional district
(representing Steubenville
, Marietta
and Portsmouth
), the Democratic nominee.
Their running mate
s for lieutenant governor was former Ohio Attorney General
Lee Fisher
for Strickland and state Representative
Tom Raga
for Blackwell. (Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor in Ohio run on a single ballot line
).
Strickland captured about 60 percent of the vote; Blackwell conceded to Strickland at about 8:45 p.m. EST
on November 7, 2006. Strickland served from 2007 to 2011.
for the 2008 presidential election
; Ohio was considered a crucial swing state
, with 20 electoral votes. Since the Republican Party's
inception in 1854, no Republican presidential candidate has ever been elected to office without the electoral votes of Ohio. In contrast, a Democratic candidate has won the national election without the support of Ohio seven times (1836, 1844, 1856, 1884, 1892, 1944, 1960). Overall, Ohio's electoral votes have gone to the winner of the election 78% of the time.
Comedian and talk-show host Jon Stewart
taped The Daily Show
from October 30 to November 2, 2006, at the Roy Bowen Theater on the campus of Ohio State University
. The series of episodes was entitled "Battlefield Ohio: The Daily Show’s Midwest Midterm Midtacular" and was intended to bring further national attention to the election in Ohio. This was only the second time that the show had been filmed in a location other than New York City
.
, as Ohio's electoral votes would have been sufficient to swing the election from George W. Bush
to John Kerry
had Kerry won in Ohio. Given the importance of the state, Blackwell's role in the conduct of the election was closely scrutinized. As Ohio Secretary of State, Blackwell was the state's chief elections officer. He was also an honorary co-chair for the Bush re-election campaign
in Ohio and the most prominent backer of a ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage
on the same ballot.
Leading up to the election Blackwell made a number of decisions about the election process, most of which placed additional restrictions on voting. Opponents argued that Blackwell's decisions would have the effect of suppressing turnout among vulnerable populations, most of whom would be expected to vote for Kerry in the presidential contest—and that Blackwell had a conflict of interest as a co-chair of Bush's re-election campaign. Supporters argued that the Secretary of State had always been a partisan political office and that there was nothing wrong with Blackwell having a preference in the presidential elections; they denied that Blackwell's decisions were designed to benefit Bush.
Reaction to Blackwell's conduct was so strong that a coalition of left-leaning organizations attempted to amend the Ohio Constitution
to abolish the Secretary of State's oversight of elections, as part of a package of election reforms. The proposal was rejected by voters in November 2005. Dissatisfaction with Blackwell's involvement in the 2004 election apparently hurt him with Ohio's African-American community; according to exit polls, Blackwell received only 20% of the vote in 2006, compared to much higher showings in his previous races. Exit polls showed that confidence in the election process among Ohio voters was even lower than voters in Florida, the state which produced an unprecedented five-week post-election fight in 2000. But among voters "very confident" that votes would be counted accurately, Blackwell actually led Strickland.
. Republicans had held the governorship for sixteen years, occupied all statewide constitutional offices, and controlled both houses of the state legislature.
to comment, "I'm not aware of anyone who's ever sunk lower."
Taft's low approval ratings follow several years of scandals. In 2005, Taft pled no contest to four ethics violations involving illegal gifts totaling $5,800. He was convicted of four misdemeanors and was ordered to pay a $4,000 fine and apologize to the people of Ohio. Taft is the only Ohio governor to be convicted of a crime while in office.
removed a restriction requiring that state investments only be in safer, though lower-yielding, bonds
. After the restriction was eliminated, hundreds of millions of dollars in state funds were invested by a number of investment firms with close ties to the Republican party. Among those investments was $50 million of the Ohio Bureau of Worker's Compensation fund which was given to Thomas Noe
, an investor in rare and unusual coins and major donor to the Republican Party including then-governor Bob Taft.
In 2005 it was revealed that Noe could only account for $13 million of the original investment. Among the missing funds were two coins worth over $300,000 alone. Throughout 2005, there was a protracted legal battle over the release of records which Noe claimed were privileged and prosecutors claimed were in the public domain. The Ohio Supreme Court ruled 5-2 in favor of the prosecutors. On February 13, 2006, Noe was indicted on 53 counts, including: engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity (which carries a mandatory 10 year sentence), 11 counts of theft, 11 counts of money laundering, 8 counts of tampering with records, and 22 counts of forgery. The charges also accuse Noe of personally stealing $2 million. On November 20, 2006, Noe was found guilty of theft, money laundering, forgery and corrupt activity, and was sentenced to serve 18 years in prison, fined $213,000, ordered to pay the $2 million dollar cost of his prosecution and make restitution to the Ohio Bureau of Worker's Compensation.
Also in 2006, Noe pled guilty to three charges of using over a dozen people in 2004 as illegal "conduits" to make donations to George W. Bush's
re-election campaign of over $45,000 in order to skirt laws limiting donations in federal campaigns to $2,000. Noe was convicted and sentenced to 27 months in federal prison and ordered to pay a $136,000 fine.
. State auditor Betty Montgomery
had also been a candidate, but withdrew from the contest and instead ran for state attorney general, an office she lost to Democrat Marc Dann
. Despite commercials preaching his conservative values, Petro was never able to shake his previous pro-choice stance. As the election approached, the barbs grew worse between Petro and Blackwell, only serving to bring more negative attention to the Ohio GOP.
. Strickland was originally also in a tough fight for the nomination, as Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman
was also campaigning and raising money. Before attacks were traded between the nominees, Coleman bowed out, citing a need to spend more time with his family.
The race for the 2006 election was, in 2006, the most expensive in Ohio's history. Reflective of both the national significance of the race, as well as the powerful fund-raising capabilities of both parties, Blackwell and Strickland passed the previous fund raising record set in 1998. That record, set when current Governor Bob Taft was running against Lee Fisher (Strickland's running mate), totaled a combined $18 million by the end of the election. As of September 9, 2006, Blackwell and Strickland had already raised a combined $21.2 million dollars. Strickland led Blackwell, $11.2 million to $10 million. Most of the money raised in Ohio by both major party candidates came from a single zip code in downtown Columbus, which is home to their respective parties, labor and political groups, lobbyists and lawyers.
A significant amount of money was spent by private groups on behalf of the candidates as well, the estimated combined total at the time of the May 2 primary was $50 million.
Since the first polls on the general election matchup were taken in November 2005, Strickland led Blackwell, though the margin substantially increased in March 2006.
The greatest margin recorded in an individual poll was found in the October 26, 2006, SurveyUSA poll which showed Strickland leading by 30 points. The smallest recorded margin was the February 6, 2006, Zogby poll showing Strickland leading by a mere 3 points. When the results are averaged across the different polls, the greatest margin was in October 2006 with a difference of 22.6 points in favor of Strickland. The smallest average margin was during January 2006 with Strickland leading Blackwell by 4 points.
Note that while Bill Pierce and Bob Fitrakis were endorsed by the Libertarian and Green parties, respectively, they appeared as independents on the ballot.
Lieutenant Governor of Ohio
The position of lieutenant governor of Ohio was established in 1852. The lieutenant governor becomes governor if the governor resigns, dies in office or is removed by impeachment. Before 1852, the president of the Ohio State Senate would serve as acting governor if a vacancy in the governorship...
. Incumbent Governor Bob Taft
Bob Taft
Robert Alphonso "Bob" Taft II is an Ohio Republican Party politician. He was elected to two terms of office as the 67th Governor of the U.S. state of Ohio between 1999-2007. After leaving office, Taft started working for the University of Dayton beginning August 15, 2007.-Personal background:Taft...
could not run for re-election, as Ohio governors are limited
Term limit
A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method to curb the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "president for...
to two consecutive terms in office.
The general election for governor pitted Ohio Secretary of State
Ohio Secretary of State
The Secretary of State is responsible for overseeing elections in the State of Ohio. The Secretary of State also is responsible for registering business entities and granting them the authority to do business within the state, registering secured transactions, and granting access to public...
Ken Blackwell
Ken Blackwell
John Kenneth Blackwell is an American politician and activist who served as the mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio from 1979 to 1980 and Ohio Secretary of State from 1999 to 2007. A Republican, he was the first African-American to be the candidate for governor of a major party in Ohio. In 2006, Blackwell...
, the Republican nominee, against U.S. Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Ted Strickland
Ted Strickland
Theodore "Ted" Strickland was the 68th Governor of Ohio, serving from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, representing ....
of Ohio's 6th congressional district
Ohio's 6th congressional district
Ohio's 6th congressional district is currently represented by Representative Bill Johnson . This district runs along the southeast side of the state, bordering Kentucky, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania...
(representing Steubenville
Steubenville, Ohio
Steubenville is a city located along the Ohio River in Jefferson County, Ohio on the Ohio-West Virginia border in the United States. It is the political county seat of Jefferson County. It is also a principal city of the Weirton–Steubenville, WV-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, Marietta
Marietta, Ohio
Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Ohio, United States. During 1788, pioneers to the Ohio Country established Marietta as the first permanent American settlement of the new United States in the Northwest Territory. Marietta is located in southeastern Ohio at the mouth...
and Portsmouth
Portsmouth, Ohio
Portsmouth is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Scioto County. The municipality is located on the northern banks of the Ohio River and east of the Scioto River in Southern Ohio. The population was 20,226 at the 2010 census.-Foundation:...
), the Democratic nominee.
Their running mate
Running mate
A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position but can also properly be used when referring to both candidates, such as "Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen were...
s for lieutenant governor was former Ohio Attorney General
Ohio Attorney General
The Ohio Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of Ohio in the United States. The office is filled by general election, held every four years. The Ohio Attorney General is Mike DeWine.-History:...
Lee Fisher
Lee Fisher
Lee Fisher was the 64th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, who served with Governor Ted Strickland from 2007 until 2011.He is a member of the Democratic Party.In addition to serving as Lt...
for Strickland and state Representative
Ohio House of Representatives
The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate....
Tom Raga
Tom Raga
Thomas A. Raga is an American politician of the Republican Party who previously represented the Sixty-seventh District in the Ohio House of Representatives. In February 2006, he was named by J. Kenneth Blackwell as his running mate in the May 2, 2006, primary for Governor and Lieutenant Governor...
for Blackwell. (Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor in Ohio run on a single ballot line
Ticket (election)
A ticket refers to a single election choice which fills more than one political office or seat. For example, in the U.S., the candidates for President and Vice President run on the same "ticket", because they are elected together on a single ballot question rather than separately.A ticket can also...
).
Strickland captured about 60 percent of the vote; Blackwell conceded to Strickland at about 8:45 p.m. EST
North American Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
on November 7, 2006. Strickland served from 2007 to 2011.
National attention
As the election approached, there was increasing national attention on the Ohio gubernatorial election, focused largely on the ability of the Republican party to maintain control in Ohio. Results in Ohio in 2006 were regarded as a possible bellwetherBellwether
A bellwether is any entity in a given arena that serves to create or influence trends or to presage future happenings.The term is derived from the Middle English bellewether and refers to the practice of placing a bell around the neck of a castrated ram leading his flock of sheep.The movements of...
for the 2008 presidential election
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
; Ohio was considered a crucial swing state
Swing state
In United States presidential politics, a swing state is a state in which no single candidate or party has overwhelming support in securing that state's electoral college votes...
, with 20 electoral votes. Since the Republican Party's
History of the United States Republican Party
The United States Republican Party is the second oldest currently existing political party in the United States after its great rival, the Democratic Party. It emerged in 1854 to combat the Kansas Nebraska Act which threatened to extend slavery into the territories, and to promote more vigorous...
inception in 1854, no Republican presidential candidate has ever been elected to office without the electoral votes of Ohio. In contrast, a Democratic candidate has won the national election without the support of Ohio seven times (1836, 1844, 1856, 1884, 1892, 1944, 1960). Overall, Ohio's electoral votes have gone to the winner of the election 78% of the time.
Comedian and talk-show host Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian...
taped The Daily Show
The Daily Show
The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
from October 30 to November 2, 2006, at the Roy Bowen Theater on the campus of Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
. The series of episodes was entitled "Battlefield Ohio: The Daily Show’s Midwest Midterm Midtacular" and was intended to bring further national attention to the election in Ohio. This was only the second time that the show had been filmed in a location other than New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Ohio, Blackwell, and the 2004 election
Ohio played a decisive role in the 2004 presidential electionUnited States presidential election, 2004
The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...
, as Ohio's electoral votes would have been sufficient to swing the election from George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
to John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
had Kerry won in Ohio. Given the importance of the state, Blackwell's role in the conduct of the election was closely scrutinized. As Ohio Secretary of State, Blackwell was the state's chief elections officer. He was also an honorary co-chair for the Bush re-election campaign
George W. Bush presidential campaign, 2004
This article is about the presidential campaign of George W. Bush, the former President of the United States and winner of the 2004 Presidential Election. See George W. Bush for a detailed biography and information about his full presidency, and George W. Bush presidential campaign, 2000 for a...
in Ohio and the most prominent backer of a ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage in the United States
The federal government does not recognize same-sex marriage in the United States, but such marriages are recognized by some individual states. The lack of federal recognition was codified in 1996 by the Defense of Marriage Act, before Massachusetts became the first state to grant marriage licenses...
on the same ballot.
Leading up to the election Blackwell made a number of decisions about the election process, most of which placed additional restrictions on voting. Opponents argued that Blackwell's decisions would have the effect of suppressing turnout among vulnerable populations, most of whom would be expected to vote for Kerry in the presidential contest—and that Blackwell had a conflict of interest as a co-chair of Bush's re-election campaign. Supporters argued that the Secretary of State had always been a partisan political office and that there was nothing wrong with Blackwell having a preference in the presidential elections; they denied that Blackwell's decisions were designed to benefit Bush.
Reaction to Blackwell's conduct was so strong that a coalition of left-leaning organizations attempted to amend the Ohio Constitution
Ohio Constitution
The Ohio Constitution is the basic governing document of the State of Ohio, which in 1803 became the 17th state to join the United States of America. Ohio has had two constitutions since statehood was granted....
to abolish the Secretary of State's oversight of elections, as part of a package of election reforms. The proposal was rejected by voters in November 2005. Dissatisfaction with Blackwell's involvement in the 2004 election apparently hurt him with Ohio's African-American community; according to exit polls, Blackwell received only 20% of the vote in 2006, compared to much higher showings in his previous races. Exit polls showed that confidence in the election process among Ohio voters was even lower than voters in Florida, the state which produced an unprecedented five-week post-election fight in 2000. But among voters "very confident" that votes would be counted accurately, Blackwell actually led Strickland.
Republican control
Entering the 2006 campaign, Ohio had been dominated for a decade by RepublicansRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. Republicans had held the governorship for sixteen years, occupied all statewide constitutional offices, and controlled both houses of the state legislature.
Bob Taft
At a low point in his popularity in November 2005, Taft garnered only a 6.5% approval rating. According to polling organization Survey USA, this was a lower proportion than any governor in the United States. A poll taken in May 2006 indicated that only 2% of Ohio residents "strongly approved" of Taft's performance. The low approval ratings led pollster John ZogbyJohn Zogby
John Zogby is an American political pollster and first senior fellow at The Catholic University of America's Life Cycle Institute. He is the founder, president and CEO of Zogby International, a polling firm known for both phone polling and interactive, Internet-based polling.-Early years:Zogby...
to comment, "I'm not aware of anyone who's ever sunk lower."
Taft's low approval ratings follow several years of scandals. In 2005, Taft pled no contest to four ethics violations involving illegal gifts totaling $5,800. He was convicted of four misdemeanors and was ordered to pay a $4,000 fine and apologize to the people of Ohio. Taft is the only Ohio governor to be convicted of a crime while in office.
Thomas Noe and Coingate
In 1996 the Republican controlled Ohio General AssemblyOhio General Assembly
The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate...
removed a restriction requiring that state investments only be in safer, though lower-yielding, bonds
Bond (finance)
In finance, a bond is a debt security, in which the authorized issuer owes the holders a debt and, depending on the terms of the bond, is obliged to pay interest to use and/or to repay the principal at a later date, termed maturity...
. After the restriction was eliminated, hundreds of millions of dollars in state funds were invested by a number of investment firms with close ties to the Republican party. Among those investments was $50 million of the Ohio Bureau of Worker's Compensation fund which was given to Thomas Noe
Thomas Noe
Thomas W. Noe is an Ohio Republican party fundraiser and activist, guilty of money laundering for the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign and of theft and corruption in the "Coingate scandal"...
, an investor in rare and unusual coins and major donor to the Republican Party including then-governor Bob Taft.
In 2005 it was revealed that Noe could only account for $13 million of the original investment. Among the missing funds were two coins worth over $300,000 alone. Throughout 2005, there was a protracted legal battle over the release of records which Noe claimed were privileged and prosecutors claimed were in the public domain. The Ohio Supreme Court ruled 5-2 in favor of the prosecutors. On February 13, 2006, Noe was indicted on 53 counts, including: engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity (which carries a mandatory 10 year sentence), 11 counts of theft, 11 counts of money laundering, 8 counts of tampering with records, and 22 counts of forgery. The charges also accuse Noe of personally stealing $2 million. On November 20, 2006, Noe was found guilty of theft, money laundering, forgery and corrupt activity, and was sentenced to serve 18 years in prison, fined $213,000, ordered to pay the $2 million dollar cost of his prosecution and make restitution to the Ohio Bureau of Worker's Compensation.
Also in 2006, Noe pled guilty to three charges of using over a dozen people in 2004 as illegal "conduits" to make donations to George W. Bush's
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
re-election campaign of over $45,000 in order to skirt laws limiting donations in federal campaigns to $2,000. Noe was convicted and sentenced to 27 months in federal prison and ordered to pay a $136,000 fine.
Republican
On May 2, 2006, Blackwell won the Republican nomination with 56% of the vote, defeating Attorney General Jim PetroJim Petro
James M. “Jim” Petro is an American politician from the Republican Party, and a former Ohio Attorney General. Previously, Petro also served as Ohio State Auditor. Petro was a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor of Ohio during the 2006 Ohio Primaries, but lost to Ken Blackwell...
. State auditor Betty Montgomery
Betty Montgomery
Betty Montgomery is an American politician from the state of Ohio. A Republican, she formerly served as Ohio State Auditor.-Prosecutor:...
had also been a candidate, but withdrew from the contest and instead ran for state attorney general, an office she lost to Democrat Marc Dann
Marc Dann
Marc Dann Marc Dann Marc Dann (born March 12, 1962, in Evanston, Illinois, is an American politician of the Democratic Party. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in 1984 from the University of Michigan and a law degree in 1987 from Case Western Reserve University, and practiced law in Youngstown,...
. Despite commercials preaching his conservative values, Petro was never able to shake his previous pro-choice stance. As the election approached, the barbs grew worse between Petro and Blackwell, only serving to bring more negative attention to the Ohio GOP.
Democratic
Strickland won the Democratic nomination with 79% of the vote against state representative Bryan FlanneryBryan Flannery
Bryan Flannery was a former member of the Ohio House of Representatives. He served from January 1999-2002, when his district was consolidated with a neighboring district due to the 2000 Census. He is also known as a former gubernatorial candidate for Ohio Governor in 2006...
. Strickland was originally also in a tough fight for the nomination, as Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman
Michael Coleman
Michael Coleman may refer to:*Michael Coleman , Canadian performer, voice of numerous anime characters*Michael Coleman , English writer of books for children and young adults; candidate for the 1996 Carnegie Medal...
was also campaigning and raising money. Before attacks were traded between the nominees, Coleman bowed out, citing a need to spend more time with his family.
Campaign finance
A significant amount of money was spent by private groups on behalf of the candidates as well, the estimated combined total at the time of the May 2 primary was $50 million.
Polling
The greatest margin recorded in an individual poll was found in the October 26, 2006, SurveyUSA poll which showed Strickland leading by 30 points. The smallest recorded margin was the February 6, 2006, Zogby poll showing Strickland leading by a mere 3 points. When the results are averaged across the different polls, the greatest margin was in October 2006 with a difference of 22.6 points in favor of Strickland. The smallest average margin was during January 2006 with Strickland leading Blackwell by 4 points.
| Source | Date | Strickland (D) | Blackwell (R) | Peirce (L) | Fitrakis (G) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Survey USA | November 6, 2006 | 55% | 38% | 2% | 1% |
| University of Cincinnati | November 6, 2006 | 59% | 37% | 4% (Independents combined) | |
| CNN | October 31, 2006 | 59% | 36% | ||
| Survey USA | October 26, 2006 | 62% | 32% | 1% | 1% |
| Quinnipiac | October 18, 2006 | 59% | 32% | ||
| NY Times/CBS News | October 18, 2006 | 53% | 29% | 2% (Independents combined) | |
| University of Cincinnati | October 14, 2006 | 52% | 38% | 3% | 1% |
| Survey USA | October 12, 2006 | 60% | 32% | 2% | 1% |
| Rasmussen | October 6, 2006 | 52% | 40% | ||
| Zogby | September 28, 2006 | 48.3% | 39.7% | ||
| Survey USA | September 28, 2006 | 56% | 35% | 2% | 2% |
| Rasmussen | September 20, 2006 | 54% | 35% | ||
| Quinnipiac | September 19, 2006 | 56% | 34% | ||
| University of Cincinnati | September 17, 2006 | 50% | 38% | 3% | 2% |
| Zogby | September 11, 2006 | 47.5% | 41.8% | ||
| Zogby | August 28, 2006 | 49.7% | 41.4% | ||
| Rasmussen | August 27, 2006 | 57% | 32% | ||
| Survey USA | August 7, 2006 | 57% | 35% | 2% | 1% |
| Rasmussen | August 1, 2006 | 50% | 39% | ||
| Zogby | July 24, 2006 | 48.4% | 43.8% | ||
| Columbus Dispatch | July 23, 2006 | 47% | 27% | ||
| Rasmussen | June 27, 2006 | 50% | 37% | ||
| Zogby | June 21, 2006 | 49.1% | 44.3% | ||
| Survey USA | June 13, 2006 | 53% | 37% | 2% | 1% |
| University of Cincinnati | May 25, 2006 | 50% | 44% | 2% (Independents combined) | |
| Rasmussen | May 18, 2006 | 52% | 36% | ||
| Rasmussen | April 25, 2006 | 52% | 35% | ||
| Rasmussen | March 31, 2006 | 50% | 40% | ||
| Rasmussen | February 19, 2006 | 47% | 35% | ||
| Zogby | February 6, 2006 | 38% | 35% | ||
| Rasmussen | January 7, 2006 | 44% | 40% | ||
| Rasmussen | November 15, 2005 | 42% | 36% | ||
Results
Strickland won the overwhelming majority of Ohio's counties, although Blackwell did respectably in some traditionally Republican areas, mostly in western Ohio.Note that while Bill Pierce and Bob Fitrakis were endorsed by the Libertarian and Green parties, respectively, they appeared as independents on the ballot.