Economic woes in the Buckeye State put Gov. Ted Strickland in a vulnerable position for 2010, a new Quinnipiac Poll (1,123 RVs, 11/5-9, +/- 2.9%) finds.

General Election Matchup
Strickland 40 (-6 vs. last poll, 9/15)
Kasich 40 (+4)
Don't Know 18 (+3)

Other recent Ohio polls have also found this race a dead heat at this early stage. Strickland, who won his 2006 election by more than 20 points and boasted strong poll numbers early in his term, now sees his approval rating at an all time low, 45 percent, with 43 percent disapproving.

Former Rep. John Kasich still is an unknown quantity to nearly 70 percent of voters, the poll finds, but has pulled into a tie with the incumbent after trailing by 30 points in Quinnipiac's initial matchup in February.

"This race is about Ted Strickland," Quinnipiac's Peter Brown says in the poll release. "Because so few voters have a firm fix on Kasich, the campaign is likely to be a race to define him in the eyes of most voters. That will mean the Strickland campaign will be trying to convince those seven in 10 voters who don't know enough about Kasich that he isn't their kind of guy."

Nearly two-thirds of Ohio voters say they're dissatisfied with the way things are going in Ohio. Just 33 percent approve of how Strickland is handling the economy, a number that's held steady in the last few surveys. Kasich has an 8-point lead now when voters are asked who would do a better job handling the economy and state budget.

In short: add Strickland to the long list of incumbents who will face tougher-than-expected challenges next fall because of the economy.