Ohio

Republican Governor Bob Taft, who was recently convicted on four misdemeanor counts related to state ethics laws, is not ready to resign, even though a plurality of his constituents believe he should. Mark Naymik of the Cleveland Plain Dealer has the story.

Ohio voters are split over whether Gov. Bob Taft should resign for his ethics violations, but a majority of voters think he is doing a poor job in office, a Plain Dealer Poll shows.

Forty-six percent of Ohio voters surveyed say the governor should quit, while 44 percent say he should not. Ten percent of voters say they are undecided.

[...]

Asked to rate Taft's performance in office, voters surveyed were more together in evaluating his performance as governor: 57 percent say he's doing a poor job, 27 percent say he's doing a fair job and 15 percent say he's doing an excellent or good job.

The response from the Taft administration: "The governor has never governed by polls."

Oklahoma

The Republicans lost one of their favored candidates to challenge Democratic Governor Brad Henry when former Congressman J.C. Watts decided to forgo a run. Now, as Michael McNutt of The Oklahoman reports, the GOP might have just found a palatable candidate.

U.S. Rep. Ernest IstookR-Warr Acres With two of the top possible Republican contenders not entering the gubernatorial race, U.S. Rep. Ernest Istook said Thursday he is considering running for governor.

"I've had a lot of people ask me to consider it, and I'm listening to them," said Istook, R-Warr Acres.

[...]

Istook said he is concerned about the state's leadership, saying its creation of the lottery and allowing gaming at Indian casinos is not the best way to improve the state's economy. Both ventures were supported by Gov. Brad Henry. At least 60 percent of the voters approved proposals during November's election establishing the lottery and legalizing casino gaming.

I'm not certain that telling 60% of voters that they are wrong is the right way to begin a campaign against a fairly popular incumbent governor.

Massachusetts

I have long hypothesized that Republican Governor Mitt Romney would not run for reelection next fall. As The Boston Globe's Michael Levenson reports, Romney is no closer to making his decision on the race public, but he is making some interesting posturing.

Despite polls showing him trailing potential Democratic rivals, Governor Mitt Romney is confidently predicting that he would trounce the competition if he decides to run for reelection next year.

''Well, I win by a landslide in Massachusetts if I run for reelection. And that's very possibly what I'm going to do," Romney said in an interview with Chris Matthews that was televised nationally yesterday on the MSNBC political talk show ''Hardball."

Romney's remarks were the latest in a string of mixed signals in recent months. He traveled the country elevating his national profile and raising cash for Republicans earlier this year and explicitly acknowledged in June that he was testing the waters for a 2008 presidential campaign. But this month, he has emphasized to several reporters that he is focused on his job and that he has not made a decision whether to run for reelection.

Yesterday, his main Democratic rival, Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, issued a one-sentence response: ''Whenever the governor makes up his mind, I'm ready."

There is a possibility that Romney will be able to pull a rabbit out of his hat and eke out a reelection victory next year in this overwhelmingly Democratic state. But to say he could win in a landslide is just pure spin.

California

With his approval rating lagging, GOP Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has decided to change the focus of his environmental policy. Jordan Rau and Miguel Bustillo have the story for the Los Angeles Times.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who enthused activists and unnerved business leaders with many of his early appointments to top environmental slots, is increasingly favoring industry officials for key jobs protecting California's forests, air and water.

Schwarzenegger's effort to be a green Republican has been one of the principal ways the governor has depicted himself as being above Sacramento's traditional partisan divides. But in a reversal from the beginning of his tenure, it is now environmentalists who are objecting that Schwarzenegger has bent too far to one side.

The complaints mirror a larger one that has been leveled against the governor all year: that he has become too closely aligned with the business interests that are underwriting his November special election.

I'm not entirely certain how tacking to the right will help Schwarzenegger regain the support of California's independents, but far be it from me to tell him how to run his administration.