The poll from Quinnipiac University gives Kasich a nine-point lead over Cuyahoga County Executive Ed Fitzgerald and a seven-point lead over Richard Cordray.

The survey also says 52 percent of Ohio voters approve of Kasich’s job performance, compared to 34 percent disapproval.

The poll follows last month’s survey by Quinnipiac that gave Kasich his first positive approval rating as governor.

Quinnipiac University Pollster Peter Brown says there’s good news for Governor Kasich in this most recent poll.

“You know, Kasich’s doing a better job in the eyes of voters,” Brown says.

In this latest Quinnipiac poll, Kasich’s job approval rating is 53 percent; that’s the first time since he took office that it’s been over the 50 percent mark. Brown says he suspects there’s one reason for that.

Ohioans seem to be happier and frankly, Ohio is doing better than much of the rest of the country. I mean the same reasons that led President Obama to have a comfortable win here than some would expect a year before the election, because the economy is good, they gave Obama credit for it and they are giving Kasich credit for it.

Kasich has had his share of issues during the past couple of years that proved challenging for him. He was forced to deal with a tough budget and had to cut some state services. Early on, he said things he later came to regret, like calling a police officer an “idiot” and taking a hard tone with lobbyists.

And he backed the controversial collective bargaining bill that Ohio voters overwhelmingly repealed at the ballot box months later.

“Kasich took the pain early. Some politicians try to put off pain. He didn’t do that and it seems — with a capital S — it seems to have been a good strategy at this point,” Brown says.

These days, Kasich has softened his tone and has embraced some ideas that Democrats support, including expanding Medicaid in Ohio.

Still, the head of Ohio’s Democratic Party, Chris Redfern, points out the poll shows only 46 percent of Ohioans think Kasich deserves re-election. And Redfern makes this comparison.

This time four years ago when a poll was taken for Ted Strickland, it showed us thrashing John Kasich by almost 30 points in a head to head match-up that was not yet to be held for another two years.

Redfern says Governor Kasich wants to raise sales taxes as part of a tax reform plan that Redfern says hurts lower and middle class Ohioans. Yet this Quinnipiac poll shows Ohioans, at this point, do not favor any of the possible Democratic candidates over Kasich. Redfern says that will change as people realize the possible sales tax increases and become more familiar with possible Democratic candidates.

“As more Ohioans come to know Ed Fitzgerald, Tim Ryan, Betty Sutton, or whoever the nominee is, they will see the contrast between the policies of John Kasich, attacking the middle class, increased levies at the local levels, attacking fire fighters and police officers…and those on our side of the aisle who want to invest in the middle class and do the things that we know can grow our state.”

Indeed, Quinnipiac Pollster Peter Brown says it’s too early to read too much into Kasich’s latest approval rating. He says it’s going to come down to how voters feel about the economy when they go to the polls next fall.

“When things are good, voters are happy and they tend to reward their politicians. When things are bad, voters and unhappy and they tend to penalize their politicians.”

Another poll from Quinnipiac released Friday says 48 percent of Ohioans think the Governor’s desire to reduce the state income tax and increase sales tax revenue is a bad idea, while 42 support the shift. The wide-reaching survey says 90 percent of Ohio voters favor background checks for all gun sales, and 53 percent favor a nationwide ban on assault weapons.

The same poll says most Ohioans think the state’s new casinos will be good for the state, and most Ohioans do not want to move away from the practice of electing state Supreme Court justices.

The poll also says 47 percent of Ohioans oppose same-sex marriage, compared to 45 percent support, and voters are evenly split on legalizing marijuana.

Click here for more details on the poll from Ohio Public Radio’s Bill Cohen.

The survey from Quinnipiac University says among Ohioans who see the economy as improving, 88 percent think Kasich should receive at least some credit. That’s compared to the 72 percent who credit the President. Among Ohioans who see the economy as getting worse, 86 percent give at least some blame to the Governor, while 82 percent blame President Obama.

The Quinnipiac polls puts the Governor’s approval rating at an all-time high of 42 percent. But the same survey says 43 percent of Ohioans think the Governor does not deserve a second term.

Among possible opponents for 2014, respondents most favored former Democratic Governor Ted Strickland.

The poll released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University gives the president a 50 percent to 45 percent lead over Republican Mitt Romney. The same poll gives the President a one-point lead in Florida and a two-point lead in Virginia. Each poll had about a three point margin of error.

Women likely voters in Ohio back Obama 56 – 39 percent, virtually unchanged from October 22. Men go with Romney 50 – 44 percent, also virtually unchanged. White voters go to Romney 50 – 45 percent while black voters back Obama 92 – 2 percent.

“After being subjected to what seems like a zillion dollars’ worth of television ads and personal attention from the two candidates reminiscent of a high-school crush, the key swing states of Florida and Virginia are too close to call with the election only days away,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

“President Barack Obama clings to a 5-point lead in Ohio, but Gov. Mitt Romney has narrowed the president’s lead that existed in Florida and Virginia before the first debate.”

The same poll says Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown leads State Treasurer Josh Mandel, the Republican challenger, 51 – 42 percent. Independent voters are divided with 46 percent for Mandel and 44 percent for Brown.

The Quinnipiac poll also says 49 percent of Ohio voters approve of the job Gov. John Kasich is doing.

The survey by Quinnipiac University gives the President a 53 percent to 43 percent lead in Ohio. That lead grows to 12 percent in Pennsylvania and shrinks to nine percent in Florida.

In all three states, more than half the respondents said they believed Romney’s policies favored the wealthy.

The poll by Quinnipiac University, CBS News and the New York Times had a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points in Florida and 2.9 percentage points in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The survey by Quinnipiac University says 47 percent of likely Ohio voters now favor the President, compared to 38 percent support for Romney, the former Governor of Massachusetts and the presumptive Republican nominee.

“The horse race numbers reflect the general view of voters that they like the president better,” said Quinnipiac pollster Peter Brown.

“Obama has a net favorable view among Ohio voters and he is viewed evenly by those in (other key swing states) Pennsylvania and Florida, while Romney’s favorable/unfavorable ratio is negative in all three states.”

The survey gives the President an even larger lead among women, African-Americans, and younger voters.

The Quinnipiac poll showed Obama leading Romney 47-41 in Ohio, 49-42 in Florida, and 45-42 in Pennsylvania. Romney’s favorable/unfavorable splits were 41/36 in Florida, 36/43 in Ohio and 37/38 in Pennsylvania.

“President Barack Obama is on a roll in the key swing states. If the election were today, he would carry at least two states. And if history repeats itself, that means he would be re- elected,” Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a statement accompanying the poll results.

The poll’s margin of error is 2.8 percent.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday shows Republicans favor the so-called heartbeat bill 2-to-1. Ohio voters overall are almost evenly divided – 45 percent support the measure, while 46 percent oppose it.

The bill would outlaw abortions at the first detectable fetal heartbeat, sometimes as early as six weeks into pregnancy. It passed the GOP-led Ohio House in June and has been pending in the state Senate.

The measure’s opponents say the split among voters shows why the divisive issue should be shelved.

The survey of 1,610 Ohio voters has a margin of error of 2.4 percentage points.

The poll from Quinnipiac University says among Ohio’s registered voters, the President leads Romney by a 45 to 42 percent margin. It also says Mr. Obama leads all other GOP contenders by at least 10 points.

In the GOP primary race, Herman Cain gets 25 percent support compared to Romney’s 20 percent, Newt Gingrich at 11 percent, Congressman Ron Paul at 9 percent, and Rick Perry and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann tied at 4 percent each.