Almost four years ago, I relocated to Columbus. I had spent my entire life in Appalachian Ohio, with the last 30 years in the Duck Run area.

Duck Run is a short country road just northwest of Portsmouth. On this road you will find the boyhood homes of cowboy star Roy Rogers, baseball legend Branch Rickey and that of our current governor, Ted Strickland.

I did not know Roy Rogers, nor Branch Rickey, but I do know Ted Strickland and many members of the Strickland family.

Ted grew up as one of nine children with a steelworker father in a working class family with solid values.

Ted carries those values with him today. He is honest, hardworking, trustworthy, caring and sensible.

Ted knows what it is to graduate from a poor school district with a low tax base. He knows what it is to want a college education and not have easy financial access to it.

So, he has made a commitment to education and now Ohio has the lowest college tuition increase of any state.

In public education, Ohio has climbed to a rank of fifth in the nation.

Through his diligence, Ted Strickland has Ohio moving in the right direction, even in the face of one of our most devastating economic times. We fell on these difficult times slowly and can only expect slow, steady recovery. Ted Strickland cares and is able to tackle the problem.

Urma Mains, Columbus