Official reports have revealed that an aide to the Ohio GOP candidate for governor has apologized for saying in an e-mail Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, grew up in a "chicken shack."

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported on Wednesday that in an e-mail to reporters, Republican candidate John Kasich's press secretary Rob Nichols said Strickland wasn't sympathetic to the problems of Ohio cities because he grew up "in a chicken shack on Duck Run."

According to the newspaper, Democrats said the remark shows Kasich, a former member of the House of Representatives, is a Wall Street snob who looks down on Ohioans of modest means. Nichols' remark referred to Strickland's often-told story of temporarily living in a chicken shack during his Ohio childhood.

A Strickland spokeswoman fired off an e-mail of her own.

Lis Smith said, "Only the Congressman from Wall Street would be so out of touch as to insult Ted's humble upbringing. While Congressman Kasich may have spent a lot of time in boardrooms at Lehman Brothers and rubbing elbows with lobbyists at cocktail parties in Washington, Ohioans are looking for a Governor who will represent their values, and clearly that is not John Kasich."

Nichols said his choice of words landed him in trouble with Kasich too.

Nichols said after sending reporters an apologetic e-mail, "John did not like them and took me out to the woodshed over it." (With Inputs from Agencies)