DaytonDailyNews.com

COLUMBUS — If House Speaker Jon Husted decides to run for statewide office in 2010, the Kettering Republican might want to consider a name change.

How about Jon "Who-sted?"

That would give Husted a novel way to introduce himself to voters from A – Abbotsville in Darke County to Z – Zanesville, far to the east in Muskingum County.

Although the Kettering Republican has had one of the top jobs in state government for nearly four years, most voters don't know much about him.

Husted's got company.

Former U.S. House members John Kasich from the Columbus area and Rob Portman from suburban Cincinnati are virtual unknowns, too.

Husted, Kasich and Portman are preseason all-stars on the dream ticket that Kevin DeWine projects for the 2010 statewide elections.

DeWine, a state representative from Fairborn, is deputy chairman of the Ohio Republicans. He is expected to take over as chairman next year.

A Quinnipiac University poll released last week indicated that DeWine has plenty of work to do and, more importantly, lots of money to raise. He'll need the big bucks to raise name recognition for his all-stars, if they decide to run.

In the poll, voters were asked if they had favorable or unfavorable opinions of each or if they hadn't heard enough about them.

"Hadn't heard" won big.

Husted: favorable, 7 percent; unfavorable, 5 percent; haven't heard enough, 86 percent and refused, 1.

Kasich: favorable, 18 percent; unfavorable, 8 percent; haven't heard enough, 73 percent and refused, 1 percent.

Portman: favorable, 12 percent; unfavorable, 7 percent; haven't heard enough, 80 percent and refused, 1 percent.

The results don't reflect badly on Husted, Portman or Kasich, who've all enjoyed considerable political success.

They just point up a stubborn fact — it's hard to run statewide in Ohio and very, very hard to run statewide for a major office like the U.S. Senate or governor and expect to win your first time.

Incumbent Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland is an exception. In 2006 he was the first person since Democrat Frank Lausche of Cleveland in 1944 to win as governor on his first try without previously running for statewide office.

"Strickland had a huge wind at his back. There was an anti-Republican wave going through the country and Ohio and Strickland rode it," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Kasich, who's a host on Fox News, and Portman, who played a big role in Republican John McCain's Ohio campaign, are the Republicans most often talked about for governor.

Midway through his first term, Strickland appears to be strong, but not invincible. His approval rating in the poll was a healthy 54 percent. In a trial run, he defeated an unnamed Republican, 46 percent-26 percent, a positive result but not above the magic 50 percent mark.

Husted most often is mentioned as a possible candidate for secretary of state and the Democratic incumbent, Jennifer Brunner, didn't fare as well as Strickland. Twenty-six percent of voters viewed her favorably, 24 percent rated her unfavorably and 49 percent hadn't heard enough to make a call.

Husted won't speculate about a statewide race. He doesn't mind that voters don't know much about him.

"With the way the public feels about most politicians, I'm sort of glad they don't," he said.