Ohio Sen. Voinovich May be Vulnerable in 2010

Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) may face a tough reelection challenge in 2010, a new, independent poll released Wednesday showed.

36 percent of Ohio voters said Voinovich should be reelected in a new Quinnipiac poll, while 35 percent of voters backed an generic Democrat instead. 18 percent of voters said their vote would depend on the candidate, and 11 percent of voters said they do not know.

However, a slightly higher 44 percent of Ohioans said Voinovich deserves reelection in general, though it is still well below the 50 percent threshold considered healthy for incumbent candidates. In a troubling statistic for Voinovich, 27 percent of Ohio Republicans indicated that Voinovich, a more centrist Republican, did not deserve reelection, and 19 percent were unsure.

51 percent of voters said they approved of the way Voinovich, a former governor of Ohio, is handling is job. 31 percent disapproved of his job handling, and 17 percent of Ohio voters said they did not know enough.

The poll, conducted December 4-8, has a 2.6 percent margin of error.