Ohio Gov. John Kasich Announces 2016 Presidential Bid

The weekend before he was expected to announce his run for president, Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s political committee released an ad discussing the other candidates in the 2016 presidential race.

Kicking off the campaign after his speech, Kasich tweeted about his hopes for the presidency, even busting out American flag emoticons.

“I learned a lot about the way America works when I worked at Lehman Brothers, ” Kasich said to the cameras gathered at a town hall meeting at Rivier University in Nashua.

The governor also touched on the importance of his Christian faith in guiding his decisions, saying “I am just a flawed man trying to honor God’s blessing”.

Bucking the trend of other Republican governors, some of them running for president in 2016, Kasich expanded Medicaid in his state under the Affordable Care Act.

Pepper, the state’s Democratic Party chairman, said he believes Kasich “blew” his chance to make a statement Tuesday with a lackluster speech while competitors like Donald Trump continue to “take up so much of the oxygen in the room”.

Kasich knows he is entering a crowded race, though.

Fellow governors Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Chris Christie of New Jersey and Scott Walker of Wisconsin announced their campaigns, as have former governors Jeb Bush, Mike Huckabee, George Pataki and Rick Perry.

Kasich said he has the “experience and the testing” to be president.

There are so many Republicans competing for their party’s nomination during this election cycle that it is not known whether Mr Kasich will be allowed to participate in the party’s first debate – which is set to be held in Ohio next month.

As governor of Ohio, Kasich has championed a fiscally conservative platform, slashing taxes in an effort to promote economic growth and cutting the state’s budget.

The Republican already has $11.5 million in campaign support from the group New Day for America.

Kasich positioned himself as being strong on defense and vowed to beef up military spending again.

His candidacy further highlights Fox News’ unprecedented involvement in the Republican primary.

A native of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh, Kasich began his political career in the Ohio State Senate in 1978.

“I’ve told Republicans, you know, Benghazi emails, all that other stuff, it’ll be a part of the discussion”, he said. A critical early test for Kasich, analysts say, will be whether he can raise those numbers enough to land a spot in the August 6 Republican debate in Cleveland.

“When I am president, I will promise you that my top priority will be to get this country on a path to fiscal independence, strength and we will rebuild the economy of this country because creating jobs is our highest moral goal and we will move to get that done”.