Ken Blackwell and Ted Strickland squared off in their first debate today. Here's a brief write up by the AP. They'll have three more debates: September 20 in Cleveland, October 4 in Cincinnati, and October 16 in Columbus.

Strickland has really blown this race wide open, extending his lead in the latest round of polls to 21 points in the RCP Average. Sixty days is still a long time in politics, but given the stiff anti-GOP headwind in Ohio, Blackwell is going to need something approaching a miracle to make up that much ground by November 7.

Get all the latest news and polling data on the Ohio Governor's race on RCP's Election 2006 Page.