<PAGE>

                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1

                            SECTION 302 CERTIFICATION

I, Richard C. Baylor, certify that:

1.    I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Camco Financial
      Corporation;

2.    Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any untrue
      statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to
      make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such
      statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by
      this quarterly report;

3.    Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
      information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all
      material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash
      flows of Camco as of, and for, the periods presented in this quarterly
      report;

4.    Camco's other certifying officers and I are responsible for establishing
      and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange
      Act Rules 13a-14 and 15d-14) and internal control over financial reporting
      (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a 15(f) and 15d 15(f))for Camco and
      have:

            a.    Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
                  such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under
                  our supervision, to ensure that material information relating
                  to Camco, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made
                  known to us by others within those entities, particularly
                  during the period in which this annual report is being
                  prepared;

            b.    Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or
                  caused such internal control over financial reporting to be
                  designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable
                  assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and
                  the preparation of financial statements for external purposes
                  in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

            c.    Evaluated the effectiveness of Camco's disclosure controls and
                  procedures and presented in this report our conclusion about
                  the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures as
                  of the end of the period covered by this annual report based
                  on such evaluations; and

            d.    Disclosed in this report any change in Camco's internal
                  control over financial reporting that occurred during Camco's
                  fourth fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is
                  reasonably likely to materially affect, Camco's internal
                  control over financial reporting.

5.    Camco's other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based on our most
      recent evaluation, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of
      Camco's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
      functions):

            a.    all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
                  design or operation of internal controls over financial
                  reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the
                  registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report
                  financial information; and

            b.    any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
                  or other employees who have a significant role in Camco's
                  internal control over financial reporting.

Date: August 4, 2005
                                     By: /s/ Richard C. Baylor
                                         ---------------------------------------
                                     Richard C. Baylor, Chief Executive Officer