2010 Ohio gubernatorial election

See also: 2010 United States gubernatorial elections

2010 Ohio gubernatorial election

November 2, 2010

Nominee John Kasich Ted Strickland Party Republican Democratic Running mate Mary Taylor Yvette Brown Popular vote 1,889,186 1,812,059 Percentage 49.0% 47.0%

Kasich:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% Strickland:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Governor before election Ted Strickland Democratic Elected Governor John Kasich Republican

The 2010 Ohio gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Democratic Governor Ted Strickland ran for re-election to a second term as governor and was opposed by former U.S. Representative John Kasich; both Strickland and Kasich won their respective primaries uncontested. The race between the two major candidates was prolonged and brutal, with both candidates employing various campaign surrogates to bolster their campaigns. Ultimately, Kasich narrowly defeated Strickland in one of Ohio's closest gubernatorial elections in history.

Strickland's defeat was widely attributed to the decline of Ohio's economy, as well as the loss of 400,000 jobs since the beginning of his term. The policies of the then-president Barack Obama proved to be a hot topic among voters, with Strickland voicing his support for the healthcare overhauls initiated by Obama's administration, contrary to Kasich, who opposed the policies. As of 2023, this is the last time an incumbent governor of Ohio lost re-election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Ted Strickland, incumbent Governor of Ohio

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ted Strickland (incumbent)	630,785	100.00%
Total votes			630,785	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

• John Kasich, former U.S. Representative, Chairman of the House Budget Committee and candidate for president in 2000

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Kasich	746,719	100.00%
Total votes			746,719	100.00%

Libertarian primary

Candidates

• Ken Matesz

Results

Libertarian Party primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Libertarian	Ken Matesz	4,407	100.00%
Total votes			4,407	100.00%

Green primary

Candidates

• Dennis Spisak, former congressional candidate

Results

Green Party primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Green	Dennis Spisak	924	100.00%
Total votes			924	100.00%

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Cook Political Report	Tossup	October 14, 2010
Rothenberg	Tilt R (flip)	October 28, 2010
RealClearPolitics	Tossup	November 1, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball	Lean R (flip)	October 28, 2010
CQ Politics	Tossup	October 28, 2010

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Ted Strickland (D)	John Kasich (R)
Public Policy Polling	October 28–30, 2010	48%	49%
Angus Reid Public Opinion	October 27–29, 2010	46%	49%
Survey USA	October 22–26, 2010	44%	49%
Quinnipiac University	October 18–24, 2010	43%	49%
Fox News/POR	October 23, 2010	43%	47%
CNN/Time Magazine	October 15–19, 2010	48%	46%
University of Cincinnati	October 14–18, 2010	47%	49%
Quinnipiac University	October 12–17, 2010	41%	51%
University of Cincinnati	October 8–13, 2010	43%	51%
Rasmussen Reports	October 11, 2010	45%	48%
Fox News/POR	October 9, 2010	42%	47%
Angus Reid Public Opinion	October 5–8, 2010	46%	48%
Quinnipiac University	September 29 – October 3, 2010	41%	50%
Fox News/POR	October 2, 2010	43%	49%
Rasmussen Reports	September 27, 2010	42%	50%
CBS/NY Times	September 23–27, 2010	42%	43%
Reuters/Ipsos	September 23–25, 2010	46%	47%
Ohio Newspapers Poll/UC	September 24, 2010	45%	49%
SurveyUSA	September 14, 2010	40%	52%
CNN/Time Magazine	September 10–14, 2010	44%	51%
Quinnipiac	September 9–14, 2010	37%	54%
Rasmussen Reports	September 13, 2010	43%	50%
Fox News/Pulse Research	September 11, 2010	43%	48%
The Columbus Dispatch	August 25 – September 3, 2010	37%	49%
Rasmussen Reports	August 30, 2010	39%	47%
Public Policy Polling	August 27–29, 2010	40%	50%
Rasmussen Reports	August 16, 2010	40%	48%
Reuters/Ipsos	August 6–8, 2010	39%	48%
Rasmussen Reports	August 2, 2010	42%	45%
Rasmussen Reports	July 19, 2010	43%	48%
Rasmussen Reports	June 29, 2010	40%	47%
Public Policy Polling	June 26–27, 2010	41%	43%
Quinnipiac	June 22–27, 2010	43%	38%
Rasmussen Reports	June 3, 2010	42%	47%
UC/The Ohio Poll	May 11–20, 2010	49%	44%
Rasmussen Reports	May 5, 2010	45%	46%
Quinnipiac	April 21–26, 2010	44%	38%
Research 2000	April 5–7, 2010	45%	40%
Rasmussen Reports	March 30, 2010	45%	46%
Quinnipiac	March 23–29, 2010	43%	38%
Public Policy Polling	March 20–21, 2010	37%	42%
Rasmussen Reports	March 4, 2010	38%	49%
Quinnipiac	February 16–21, 2010	44%	39%
Rasmussen Reports	February 5–6, 2010	41%	47%
The Ohio Newspaper	January 13–19, 2010	45%	51%
Ohio Right to Life	January 8–12, 2010	33%	43%
Rasmussen Reports	January 12, 2010	40%	47%
Rasmussen Reports	December 7, 2009	39%	48%
Quinnipiac	November 5–9, 2009	40%	40%
The Ohio Newspaper	October 14–20, 2009	48%	47%
Rasmussen Reports	September 23, 2009	45%	46%
Quinnipiac	September 10–13, 2009	46%	36%
Research 2000	July 8, 2009	44%	39%
Quinnipiac	June 26 – July 1, 2009	43%	38%
Public Policy Polling	June 17–19, 2009	44%	42%
Quinnipiac	April 28 – May 4, 2009	51%	32%
Quinnipiac	March 10–15, 2009	51%	31%
Quinnipiac	January 29 – February 2, 2009	56%	26%
Public Policy Polling	January 17–18, 2009	45%	39%

Results

When the polls closed on election night, the race was very close, with Strickland and Kasich neck and neck. As the night wore on, Kasich's lead began to pick up strength, however once Cuyahoga County came in, Kasich's lead began to erode. In the end Kasich still won, but it was one of the closest gubernatorial elections in Ohio history. Strickland conceded at around 2 A.M. EST.

2010 Ohio gubernatorial election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	John Kasich	1,889,186	49.04%	+12.39%
	Democratic	Ted Strickland (incumbent)	1,812,059	47.04%	-13.50%
	Libertarian	Ken Matesz	92,116	2.39%	+0.61%
	Green	Dennis Spisak	58,475	1.52%	+0.50%
	Write-in		633	0.02%	N/A
Majority			77,127	2.00%	-21.89%
Total votes			3,852,469	100.00%
	Republican gain from Democratic

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Adams (Largest city: West Union)
• Ashland (Largest city: Ashland)
• Allen (Largest city: Lima)
• Brown (Largest city: Georgetown)
• Carroll (Largest city: Carrollton)
• Champaign (Largest city: Urbana)
• Clark (largest municipality: Springfield)
• Clinton (Largest city: Wilmington)
• Columbiana (Largest city: Salem)
• Coshocton (Largest city: Coshocton)
• Crawford (Largest city: Bucyrus)
• Delaware (Largest city: Delaware)
• Defiance (Largest city: Defiance)
• Fairfield (Largest city: Lancaster)
• Fayette (Largest city: Washington Court House)
• Fulton (Largest city: Wauseon)
• Gallia (Largest city: Gallipolis)
• Geauga (Largest city: Chardon)
• Guernsey (Largest city: Cambridge)
• Hardin (Largest city: Kenton)
• Henry (Largest city: Napoleon)
• Highland (Largest city: Hillsboro)
• Huron (Largest city: Norwalk)
• Knox (Largest city: Mount Vernon)
• Lake (Largest city: Mentor)
• Licking (Largest city: Newark)
• Madison (Largest city: London)
• Marion (Largest city: Marion)
• Medina (Largest city: Medina)
• Morgan (Largest city: McConnelsville)
• Morrow (Largest city: Mount Gilead)
• Muskingum (Largest city: Zanesville)
• Paulding (Largest city: Paulding)
• Perry (Largest city: New Lexington)
• Pickaway (Largest city: Circleville)
• Portage (largest city: Kent)
• Preble (Largest city: Eaton)
• Richland (Largest city: Mansfield)
• Sandusky (Largest city: Fremont)
• Seneca (Largest city: Tiffin)
• Stark (largest city: Canton)
• Tuscarawas (largest city: New Philadelphia)
• Wayne (Largest city: Wooster)
• Williams (Largest city: Bryan)
• Wyandot (Largest city: Upper Sandusky)

External links

• Elections & Ballot Issues at the Ohio Secretary of State
• Candidates for Ohio State Offices at Project Vote Smart
• Campaign contributions for 2010 Ohio Governor from Follow the Money
• 2010 Ohio Gubernatorial General Election: John Kasich (R) vs Ted Strickland (D) graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com
• Election 2010: Ohio Governor from Rasmussen Reports
• 2010 Ohio Governor – Kasich vs. Strickland from Real Clear Politics
• 2010 Ohio Governor's Race from CQ Politics
• Race Profile in The New York Times

Debates

• Ohio Gubernatorial Debate, C-SPAN, September 14, 2010

Official campaign websites (Archived)

• John Kasich for Governor
• Ken Matesz for Governor
• Dennis Spisak for Governor
• Ted Strickland for Governor incumbent