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                                                                    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: May 4, 2005

                                            By: /s/ Richard C. Baylor
                                                --------------------------------
                                                Richard C. Baylor, Chief
                                                Executive Officer