Raleigh, N.C. – Despite being suspended by Ohio State for not reporting NCAA violations, the school’s football coach Jim Tressel is still fairly popular statewide, and even more so with the school’s fans. 43% of all Ohioans see Tressel favorably, and only 17% unfavorably. With the 65% of the state’s voters who say they are OSU fans, Tressel has an even wider 58-13 favorability margin. His overall numbers are held down because, unsurprisingly, the 27% who do not root for the Buckeyes side 2:1 against him.
Voters are split over how Speaker of the House John Boehner is doing so far. 37% approve, and 38% disapprove. A quarter are not sure how they feel. These are far better numbers than PPP found for new Governor John Kasich, so Boehner has at least not ignited Democrats and angered independents nearly to the extent Kasich has. More Republicans (71%) approve of Boehner’s handling of his new leadership role than Democrats disapprove (60%). Independents fall at 35-40. Boehner represents Ohio’s 8th district.
New Senator Rob Portman has also polarized voters, though slightly in his favor, 25-22. A 53% majority are still not aware enough of him to have an opinion. As with Boehner, Republicans are more strongly affirmative (47%) than Democrats negative (35%), and independents are split at 20% on each side. Portman does at least slightly improve on where his predecessor stood when he left office. George Voinovich was at 36-40 in PPP’s December poll of Ohio. But Portman is not yet as popular as his fellow first-term Senator, Sherrod Brown, who has a net +10 approval margin.
Ohio’s two-time minor Democratic presidential candidate and 10th-district Rep. Dennis Kucinich is not well liked at all statewide, with 27% seeing him favorably and 40% unfavorably. He turns 63% of Republicans off and gets the nod from only 44% of Democrats. Independents mirror the electorate at-large.
PPP surveyed 559 Ohio voters from March 10th to 13th. The survey’s margin of error is +/-4.1%. Other factors, such as refusal to be interviewed and weighting, may introduce additional error that is more difficult to quantify.
Topline results are below. Full results, including crosstabs, can be found here.
Q1 Do you approve or disapprove of Senator Rob
Portman’s job performance?
Approve …………………………………………………. 25%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 22%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 53%
Q2 Do you approve or disapprove of the job House
Speaker John Boehner is doing?
Approve …………………………………………………. 37%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 38%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 25%
Q3 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Dennis Kucinich?
Favorable ………….. 27%
Unfavorable……….. 40%
Not sure ……………. 33%
Q4 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Jim Tressel?
Favorable ………….. 43%
Unfavorable……….. 17%
Not sure ……………. 41%
Q5 Do you consider yourself to be a Ohio State
football fan?
Yes…………………… 65%
No ……………………. 27%
Not sure ……………. 8%
Q6 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 7%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 19%
Moderate………………………………………………… 29%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 28%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 15%
Q7 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 55%
Man……………………………………………………….. 45%
Q8 If you are a Democrat, press 1. If a Republican,
press 2. If you are an independent or identify
with another party, press 3.
Democrat ……………………………………………….. 43%
Republican……………………………………………… 35%
Independent/Other…………………………………… 21%
Q9 If you are white, press 1. If African-American,
press 2. If other, press 3.
White …………………………………………………….. 84%
African-American …………………………………….. 12%
Other……………………………………………………… 4%
Q10 If you are 18 to 29 years old, press 1. If 30 to
45, press 2. If 46 to 65, press 3. If you are
older than 65, press 4.
18 to 29………………………………………………….. 7%
30 to 45………………………………………………….. 25%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 47%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 21%
