John Kasich

John Kasich
Official portrait, 2011
69th Governor of Ohio
In office
January 10, 2011 – January 14, 2019
LieutenantMary Taylor
Preceded byTed Strickland
Succeeded byMike DeWine
Chair of the House Budget Committee
In office
January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2001
Preceded byMartin Olav Sabo
Succeeded byJim Nussle
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Ohio's 12th district
In office
January 3, 1983 – January 3, 2001
Preceded byBob Shamansky
Succeeded byPat Tiberi
Member of the Ohio Senate
from the 15th district
In office
January 1, 1979 – January 1, 1983
Preceded byRobert O'Shaughnessy
Succeeded byRichard Pfeiffer
Personal details
Born
John Richard Kasich Jr.

(1952-05-13) May 13, 1952 (age 71)
McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouses
Mary Lee Griffith
(m. 1975; div. 1980)
(m. 1997)
Children2
EducationOhio State University (BA)
Signature

John Richard Kasich Jr. (/ˈksɪk/ KAY-sik;[1] born May 13, 1952)[2] is an American politician and author who was the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001, and a Republican candidate for the presidential nomination in 2000 and 2016.[3]

Kasich was born and grew up in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, and moved to Ohio in 1970 to attend college. After a single term in the Ohio Senate, he served nine terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio's 12th congressional district.[4] His tenure in the House included 18 years on the House Armed Services Committee and six years as chairman of the House Budget Committee. Kasich was a key figure in the passage of both 1996 welfare reform legislation and the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Kasich decided not to run for re-election in 2000 and ran for president instead. He withdrew from the race before the Republican primaries.

After leaving Congress, Kasich hosted Heartland with John Kasich on Fox News from 2001 to 2007 and served as managing director of the Lehman Brothers office in Columbus, Ohio.[5][6] He ran for governor of Ohio in 2010, defeating Democratic incumbent Ted Strickland.[7] He was re-elected in 2014, defeating Democratic challenger Ed FitzGerald by 30 percentage points. Kasich was term-limited and could not seek a third gubernatorial term in 2018; he was succeeded by fellow Republican Mike DeWine.

Kasich ran for president again in 2016, finishing in fourth place in the Republican primaries behind Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. He won the primary in his home state of Ohio and finished second in New Hampshire. Kasich declined to support Trump as the Republican presidential nominee and did not attend the 2016 Republican National Convention, which was held in Ohio.[8][9] From 2019 to 2023, Kasich was a CNN contributor. Since March 2023, he has been an analyst on NBC News.[10] Kasich is known as one of Trump's most prominent critics within the Republican Party,[11] and he endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for president in a speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.[12]

  1. ^ Phillips, Amber (February 9, 2016). "Who is John Kasich? Five things you should know — including how to pronounce 'Kasich.'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 4, 2018. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
  2. ^ "Biography | John R. Kasich Congressional Collection". Westervillelibrary.org. 1952-05-15. Archived from the original on 2013-10-17. Retrieved 2013-07-19.
  3. ^ "Governor John R. Kasich Biography". Governor of Ohio. Archived from the original on 2017-07-29. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  4. ^ "KASICH, John Richard, Biographical Information". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Archived from the original on 2012-07-07. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
  5. ^ Davis, Teddy (May 12, 2010). "Lehman Brothers Collapse Haunts John Kasich in Ohio Governor's Race". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 2012-09-05.
  6. ^ Hershey, William (April 2, 2010). "Kasich made $1.1 M in 2008; no "golden parachute" from Lehman Bros, records show". Dayton Daily News. Archived from the original on 2012-01-25. Retrieved 2012-09-05.
  7. ^ "Governor and Lieutenant Governor: November 2, 2010". Ohio Secretary of State. Archived from the original on February 10, 2016. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
  8. ^ Tilove, Jonathan (September 23, 2016). "John Kasich not following Ted Cruz's lead; no plans to endorse Trump". Austin American-Statesman. Archived from the original on October 9, 2016. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  9. ^ Henry J. Gomez (November 2016). "John Kasich follows through on vow not to vote for Donald Trump, writes in John McCain instead". Cleveland.com. Archived from the original on 2016-11-01. Retrieved 2016-12-23.
  10. ^ "Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich joins MSNBC as analyst".
  11. ^ Gray, Sarah (January 9, 2019). "John Kasich issued a fiery response to Trump's Oval Office address that mostly criticized the president's leadership". Business Insider. Archived from the original on February 2, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  12. ^ Dorman, Sam (August 11, 2020). "John Kasich says 'conscience' compelled him to speak at DNC, GOP is 'my vehicle but never my master'". Fox News. Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.