John Kasich

John Kasich

Republican Party

Prior offices

Governor of Ohio

Successor: Richard Michael DeWine

---

Ohio State Senate

---

U.S. House Ohio District 12

---

Elections and appointments

Last convention

July 19, 2016

Education

Bachelor's

The Ohio State University, 1974

Personal

Religion

Christian

Contact

Personal Facebook

John Richard Kasich (born May 13, 1952, in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania) was the 69th governor of Ohio. A Republican, he was first elected in 2010 and was re-elected for a second term in 2014.

Kasich previously served in the Ohio State Senate from 1979 to 1983 and in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001. He made an unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 2000.

Kasich announced on July 21, 2015, that he was running for president of the United States in 2016. He suspended his campaign on May 4, 2016, with one primary win in his home state of Ohio.

Biography

Kasich grew up in McKees Rocks, Penn., and first moved to Ohio to attend college. There, he joined the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity and studied political science. After graduating, he joined the Ohio Legislative Services Commission and worked directly for then-state Senator Buz Lukens (R) for three years before beginning his own political career.

From 2001 through April 21, 2007, Kasich was the host of "Heartland with John Kasich" on Fox News. During that time he was also a frequent guest host on "The O'Reilly Factor," and contributor to a variety of Fox News programs.

Education

• B.A. Ohio State University (1974)

Political career

• 2011-2019: Governor of Ohio
• 1983-2001: U.S. House of Representatives
• 1979-1983: Ohio State Senate

Elections

2018

See also: Ohio gubernatorial election, 2018

John Kasich was not able to file for re-election due to term limits.

2016

Presidency

See also: John Kasich presidential campaign, 2016 and Presidential election, 2016

Kasich was a Republican presidential candidate in 2016. He suspended his campaign on May 4, 2016, with one primary win in his home state of Ohio.

Kasich declined to endorse Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, and on October 8, 2016, after The Washington Post released a 2005 video of Trump making comments about women that the Post described as "extremely lewd," Kasich announced he would not vote for Donald Trump in the 2016 general election.

Kasich officially announced his bid for the presidency on July 21, 2015, making him the 16th major Republican candidate to enter the race. He made his announcement at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, where he earned a B.A. in political science in 1974.

Previously, in March 2014, Kasich said that he was "just not interested" in running for the presidency, but in an interview with ABC News on December 7, 2014, he would not explicitly deny plans to run. When asked about the possibility, Kasich responded, "Well, George, well, look, you know, you knew you were never going to get a good answer out of me here today."

Kasich received both support and criticism from fellow Republicans for his more moderate political philosophy. He supported Common Core education standards, a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, and Medicaid expansions in Ohio. Kasich's support in his home state was viewed as a significant advantage because no candidate who had lost Ohio had won the presidency in over 50 years.

2014

See also: Ohio gubernatorial election, 2014

Kasich ran for re-election as governor of Ohio in the 2014 elections. Kasich won the Republican nomination in the unopposed primary on May 6, 2014. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.

Results

General election

Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	John Kasich/Mary Taylor Incumbent	63.6%	1,944,848
	Democratic	Ed FitzGerald/Sharen Neuhardt	33%	1,009,359
	Green	Anita Rios/Bob Fitrakis	3.3%	101,706
Total Votes				3,055,913
Election results via Ohio Secretary of State

Race background

• 2014 race background (click to expand)
  Incumbent Republican John Kasich appeared to be vulnerable in late 2013, as it looked like he would face a primary challenge from the right and a general election made difficult by a full slate of Ohio Libertarian Party candidates. These challenges faded in early 2014, as Kasich faced no primary challengers and the Libertarian gubernatorial candidate was disqualified. Though he still faced two opponents, Democratic Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald and Green Party candidate Anita Rios, polling in May 2014 showed Kasich with improved ratings and a growing lead.

  In August 2014, The Washington Post reported on a series of setbacks for FitzGerald, including poor fundraising, a long-delayed driver's license, an unusual occurrence with a foreign trade representative, and major staff turnover. These events affected FitzGerald's poll numbers, as Kasich's lead widened from single digits to 30% in September, according to a Columbus Dispatch poll.

  Potential candidates

  See also: Ballot access requirements in Ohio

  U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan had been considered a strong potential Democratic candidate for the 2014 Ohio gubernatorial election but ultimately opted against entering the race in March 2013. He decided that challenging incumbent Gov. John Kasich was not worth forfeiting his seat in the U.S. House, particularly in light of his reappointment to the influential Appropriations Committee in the 113th Congress.

  Tea Party primary challenge

  Ted Stevenot, an Ohio Tea Party leader, had planned to announce a primary challenge to incumbent Governor Kasich. In early January 2014, however, Stevenot and his running mate, Brenda Mack, decided not to challenge Kasich. In his prepared statement, Stevenot said that his running mate's financial history, which had been the subject of recent critical news coverage, was not part of his consideration to withdraw.

  Ballot disqualifications

  Libertarian Party

  The Libertarian Party of Ohio had intended to file a full slate of candidates to contest each election. However, due to the number of signatures rejected on their ballot access petitions, no candidate ended up qualifying.

  On March 7, 2014, the Libertarian gubernatorial ticket was stricken from the ballot, having initially received the secretary of state's approval following a legal challenge from a self-identified Libertarian voter. The challenge alleged that Charlie Earl's signature-gathering effort had been led by Democrats; however, this allegation was not the basis of Secretary of State Husted's decision. Husted found that some of the signature gatherers had failed to properly identify their employer on the correct form and therefore rejected the signatures they had gathered. Ballot Access News reported that the decision could impact future elections: "With no gubernatorial candidate on the November ballot, the party will lose its status as a qualified party." The Libertarian Party of Ohio failed to win an injunction against this disqualification twice at the district court level and, after a similarly unsuccessful appeal to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for emergency relief that would have allowed Charlie Earl to appear on the May 6 primary ballot. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case. On May 2, the Supreme Court rejected the petition. On June 4, a petition for re-hearing before the full Sixth Circuit was rejected, leaving an appeal to the district court as the only possible source of redress.

  Green Party

  Both of the Green Party's candidates were also disqualified for signature-related issues. Two alternative candidates filed to run as write-ins on the Green Party line: Anita Rios and Bob Fitrakis for governor and lieutenant governor, respectively. To get on the November ballot, Rios and Fitrakis needed to receive 500 write-in votes in the primary on May 6. They succeeded and participated in the general election.

  Polls

  Ohio Governor's Race 2014 - Kasich vs. Fitzgerald
  Poll	John Kasich	Ed Fitzgerald	Other	Margin of error	Sample size
  The Columbus Dispatch October 22-31, 2014	62%	34%	4%	+/-3.3	1,009
  New York Times/CBS News/YouGov October 16-23, 2014	54%	35%	11%	+/-3	2,728
  Columbus Dispatch September 3-12, 2014	59%	29%	10%	+/-2.7	1,185
  Rasmussen Reports September 8-9, 2014	50%	30%	20%	+/-4.0	780
  YouGov August 18, September 2, 2014	50%	37%	13%	+/-3.0	2,978
  Qunnipiac July 24-28, 2014	48%	36%	16%	+/-2.7	1,366
  YouGov July 7-24, 2014	49%	43%	8%	+/-0	3,624
  Quinnipiac May 7-12, 2014	50%	35%	14%	+/-2.9	1,174
  Rasmussen Reports May 7-8, 2014	45%	38%	17%	+/-4.0	750
  SurveyUSA April 24-28, 2014	46%	36%	18%	+/-4	618
  Magellan Strategies for the Liberty Foundation of America April 14-15, 2014	47%	41%	12%	+/-3.35	857
  Quinnipiac University Poll February 12-17, 2014	43%	38%	19%	+/-2.7	1,370
  AVERAGES	50.25%	36%	13.5%	+/-2.97	1,536.58
  Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

  Ohio Governor's Race 2014
  Poll	John Kasich	Ed Fitzgerald	Charlie Earl	Not sure	Margin of error	Sample size
  Public Policy Polling (December 6-8, 2013)	40%	38%	6%	16%	+/-3.1	1,011
  Public Policy Polling (November 5-6, 2013)	41%	41%	6%	13%	+/-4.0	595
  AVERAGES	40.5%	39.5%	6%	14.5%	+/-3.55	803
  Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

2010

See also: Ohio gubernatorial election, 2010

Kasich declared his candidacy for governor of Ohio in June of 2009. On January 14, 2010, Kasich selected Ohio Auditor Mary Taylor (R) as his running mate.

In an Ohio first, Kasich initially announced his running mate on social networking website Twitter. Kasich had been critical of the GOP with regard to adoption of new media and his campaign made use of online networking sites.

In January of 2010, Kasich was ahead of incumbent Governor Ted Strickland (D) in most polls.

Kasich defeated Strickland in the November 2010 general election.

Governor/Lt. Governor of Ohio, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	John Kasich/Mary Taylor	49%	1,889,186
	Democratic	Ted Strickland/Yvette McGee Brown Incumbent	47%	1,812,059
	Libertarian	Ken Matesz/Margaret Ann Leech	2.4%	92,116
	Green	Dennis Spisak/Anita Rios	1.5%	58,475
	Write-In	David Sargent	0%	633
Total Votes				3,852,469
Election results via Ohio Secretary of State

Noteworthy events

Response to policy on Syria

Main article: U.S. governors and their responses to Syrian refugees

After the attacks in Paris, France, on November 13, 2015, many U.S. governors declared their support or opposition to Syrian refugee resettlement in their states. Kasich expressed strong opposition to the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the state of Ohio. Jim Lynch, a spokesman for the governor, said:

“	The governor doesn't believe the U.S. should accept additional Syrian refugees because security and safety issues cannot be adequately addressed. The governor is writing to the President to ask him to stop, and to ask him to stop resettling them in Ohio. We are also looking at what additional steps Ohio can take to stop resettlement of these refugees.	”
—Jim Lynch, spokesman for the governor

Veto of Republican-backed residency proposal

In April 2015, Kasich used his line-item veto power to strike a proposal that would have required out-of-state residents to obtain an Ohio driver's license and vehicle registration within 30 days of registering to vote. Kasich also vetoed a provision that would have taken away driving privileges from new residents who did not meet the 30-day deadline for obtaining in-state driving documents. Ohio Democrats opposed the provision, claiming it was a move by Republicans in the legislature to suppress a segment of the population that often voted Democratic, and commended Kasich's veto. Kasich stated that his reasons for vetoing the proposal had little to do with concerns over voter registration, saying instead that the language would have increased existing confusion surrounding Ohio's residency rules and cited inconsistencies with other driving policies. At the time Kasich vetoed the proposal, the number of out-of-state college students in Ohio exceeded 100,000.

Job creation ranking

A June 2013 analysis by The Business Journals ranked 45 governors based on the annual private sector growth rate in all 50 states using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Kasich was ranked number 26. The five governors omitted from the analysis all assumed office in 2013.

Medicaid expansion

On February 4, 2013, Kasich announced he would participate in the federally-funded Medicaid expansion program introduced by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Kasich's announcement was criticized by members of groups opposed to the ACA, many of whom had supported Kasich in the 2010 election. Americans for Prosperity Policy Manager Nicole Kaeding argued that "Medicaid is a broken, costly system that needs meaningful reform; expanding the system to include another 365,000 individuals is exactly the wrong policy for Ohio families." Kasich received permission from the state controlling board to implement the program on October 21, 2013. Kasich's decision was praised by the White House, with Obama aide Chris Jennings saying, "this is great news for the 270,000 previously uninsured residents, the state’s health care providers, and [the] Ohio economy, [which] will benefit from this expansion."

Campaign donors

---

The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may not represent all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer, and campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

---

John Kasich campaign contribution history
Year	Office	Result	Contributions
2014	Ohio Governor/Lt. Governor*		$21,414,148
2010	Ohio Governor/Lt. Governor*		$18,323,036
Grand total raised			$39,737,184
Source: [ Follow the Money]
*These funds represent a joint-ticket race with Mary Taylor.

2010–2014

Ballotpedia collects information on campaign donors for each year in which a candidate or incumbent is running for election. See the table below for more information about the campaign donors who supported John Kasich. Click [show] for more information.

John Kasich Campaign Contributions
	2014 Ohio Governor/Lt. Governor		2010 Ohio Governor/Lt. Governor
Total raised	$21,414,148		$18,348,491
Total raised by opponents	$4,602,489 (Dem)		$16,580,850 (Dem)
Top 5 contributors	Ohio Republican Party	$3,465,642	Ohio Republican Party	$756,880
	Summit County Republican Republican Party of Ohio	$135,000	Summit County Republican Central Committee	$150,000
	John P. McConnell	$32,156	Wayne Michael Boich, Jr.	$34,186
	Alan B. Lindner	$31,544	Ward J Timken, Jr.	$32,700
	James P. (Jim) Jurgensen	$29,544	Robert H Castellini	$25,001
Individuals	$15,696,424		$16,285,059
Institutions	$5,717,704 ($20 other)		$828,862
In-state donations	$18,053,872		$15,153,486
Out-of-state donations	$3,360,191 ($85 unknown)		$3,179,692

Presidential preference

2012

See also: Endorsements by state officials of presidential candidates in the 2012 election

John Kasich endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election.

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
After losing both his parents in a 1987 auto accident, Kasich converted from Roman Catholicism to evangelical Christianity. He amicably divorced from his first wife, Mary Lee Griffith. Kasich married Karen Waldbillig in 1997 and they had two daughters.

State profile

Demographic data for Ohio
	Ohio	U.S.
Total population:	11,605,090	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	40,861	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	82.4%	73.6%
Black/African American:	12.2%	12.6%
Asian:	1.9%	5.1%
Native American:	0.2%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.5%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	3.4%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	89.1%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	26.1%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$49,429	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	19.6%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Ohio. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Ohio

Ohio voted Republican in four out of the six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, nine are located in Ohio, accounting for 4.37 percent of the total pivot counties.

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Ohio had eight Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 4.42 and 4.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

More Ohio coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Ohio
• United States congressional delegations from Ohio
• Public policy in Ohio
• Influencers in Ohio
• Ohio fact checks
• More...

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term "John + Kasich + Ohio + Governor"

John Kasich News Feed

See also

• Governor of Ohio
• Lieutenant Governor of Ohio
• Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor
• Gubernatorial elections, 2010
• Ohio gubernatorial election, 2010
• Ohio Gubernatorial and Lieutenant Gubernatorial election, 2014

External links

Suggest a link

• Kasich's campaign website

• Social media:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
• Biographies:
  • NNDB
  • Project Vote Smart
  • Wikipedia
• Executive actions:
  • Project Vote Smart
• Fact-checking:
  • PolitiFact
• Interest group ratings:
  • Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions:
  • On The Issues
  • Project Vote Smart
• Public statements:
  • Project Vote Smart
• Works by or about:
  • WorldCat
• Media appearances:
  • IMDb

U.S. Representative (1983–2001)

• Biographies:
  • U.S. Congress
• Political profiles:
  • OpenCongress
• Financial (federal level):
  • FEC contributions
  • OpenSecrets.org
• Voting record:
  • Washington Post

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Ted Strickland (D)	Governor of Ohio 2011-2019	Succeeded by Mike DeWine (R)
Preceded by '	U.S. House of Representatives - Ohio 1983-2001	Succeeded by '