A Hill Research Consultants poll conducted March 3-4 found that 65 percent of Republican primary voters oppose Governor John Kasich’s decision to expand Medicaid as called for in President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Commissioned by Opportunity Ohio and The Liberty Foundation, the poll surveyed 803 active Ohio voters by telephone, with a 4 percent margin of error.

Overall, respondents were evenly divided on the PPACA Medicaid expansion – as shown in the following chart from the pollster’s report.

The Ohio Liberty Coalition (OLC), whose membership includes many of the state’s tea party and liberty-minded groups, has warned Republicans in the Ohio General Assembly that voting for the PPACA Medicaid expansion may invite a primary challenge. The Hill poll found a distinct partisan divide on the question of Medicaid expansion, with results suggesting Republican primary voters strongly agree with OLC.

Respondents were presented with a rotating list of issues and asked to choose “the most important one facing people in your part of Ohio today.” “Jobs and Employment” was selected by 40 percent of those surveyed, followed next by “education and schools” at 14 percent and then “healthcare” at 11 percent.

The poll found a near tie on the question of whether Ohio is headed in the right direction or is on the wrong track, with 44 percent choosing the former, 42 percent choosing the latter, and 14 percent unsure.

When asked who they voted for in the 2010 gubernatorial election, 42 percent reported voting for Kasich while 40 percent reported voting for Ted Strickland. Asked for political affiliation, 33 percent of respondents self-identified as Republicans and 38 percent as Democrats.

A majority – 60 percent – replied that they would like to “give new people a chance” when asked, “Have your legislators, your members of the Ohio state House and Senate, performed their jobs well enough to deserve reelection, or do you think it’s time to give some new people the chance to do better?”

Asked the same question about Governor Kasich, 52 percent indicated they would prefer to “give a new person a chance.”

This story originally appeared at Media Trackers Ohio.