Sen. George Voinovich and Prosecutor Mike Allen are telling voters in new TV ads that Justice Evelyn Stratton is tough, real tough, on crime. The two Republicans, popular in GOP-controlled territory, appear for the Republican-backed justice who is seeking a second six-year term.

        Mr. Allen, a former cop and judge, reminds voters that Justice Stratton earned the nickname “The Velvet Hammer” for being a tough sentencing judge in Columbus.

        Pulling away? Gov. Bob Taft is up by 11 percentage points, while a statewide ballot issue concerned with punishment for drug offenders is trailing by 20 percentage points (51 percent-31 percent), according to a poll published Sunday by the Columbus Dispatch.

        Mr. Taft, a Republican, was favored by 51 percent of those questioned. Tim Hagan, his Democratic opponent, was supported by 40 percent, with 2 percent for independent John Eastman and 7 percent undecided. The mail poll of 1,420 randomly selected Ohio registered voters was conducted Sept. 27 through Oct. 4. The margin of error was 2.6 percentage points. Former Hamilton County prosecutor Joe Deters, the Republican incumbent treasurer, is trailing Democrat Mary Boyle by 3 percentage points, according to the poll.

        Mr. Blackwell's list: Secretary of State Ken Blackwell offered his analysis of Republican chances to win in November. He said Democrats got real good voter turnout in 2000 and can be expected to push hard again this year. Driving up traditional Dem turnout, he said: Every big city in the state has some sort of school issue on the ballot.

        He also said typical Republican voters (55 and older) may blame Republican incumbents for their lousy stock portfolios.

        Cleveland vs. Cincinnati: Mr. Taft won by 62,000 votes in Hamilton County in the 1998 race for governor. In Cleveland? Mr. Taft lost by 83,419 votes to Clevelander Lee Fisher. Mr. Taft's opponent this year is also from Cleveland.

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