Ohio Gov. Kasich is 16th notable entry into 2016 GOP presidential race

Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia, places Kasich in the third tier of Republican candidates alongside three other governors, including former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and current Governors Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Chris Christie of New Jersey.

“I don’t know about you, lady”, he said to the donor.

Kasich’s dealings with Obamacare have been a theme of his governorship – he’s to the left of almost all GOP candidates on immigration, and he has embraced the Common Core educational standards.

He made references to the importance of his faith and ended his speech by referring, in part, to the oft-quoted Bible verse, “Ye are the light of the world”.

“There must be something that I must be doing right there in order to do that in what is one of the most pivotal states”, he said recently.

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Kasich spoke about having the skills and the experience necessary to run for higher office.

We moderate comments. Our goal is to provide substantive commentary for a general readership. “We didn’t really have to slash things”, Kasich said of the budget squeeze. Pauken thinks he knows why Kasich waited so long. “And how did we end up with 20 people running for president?”

That puts him in danger of not qualifying for the first Republican debate on Fox News.

Kasich then will leave to campaign in the early primary state of New Hampshire. His campaign will set up multiple outdoor viewing stations to help his supporters view the event.

Given the first Republican Presidential debate can only incorporate ten candidates, the party will face significant challenges slimming down the field. He favors earned legal status for undocumented immigrants, and has not ruled out a path to citizenship. “You can stand and you can fight, and every once in a while, you can shove something through”.

Now, Ohio roads are covered with pot holes, our bridges are structurally deficient, water and sewage systems pollute clean water, and this past winter many streets never got plowed because local communities couldn’t get old and run down snow plows to work. Detractors point to what they say is a quirky, sometimes intemperate demeanor.

“He has the ability to leap over all of the other candidates, once people hear what he has accomplished as a good executive and manager of our state”, said Martin Ruehle, a Columbus pharmacist attending the announcement with his son Abel, 14.

Now in his second term as Ohio’s leader, Kasich is often credited with balancing budget and cutting taxes. “Ohio went from tailspin to success under his bold, reform-minded leadership”.

Political career: Ohio State Legislature, 1979-82. He also pushed for changes in military procurement, including limiting production of the B-2 bomber.

Today, the former congressman fashions himself as a Washington outsider.

The latest Quinnipiac University poll showed 60% of Ohioans approve of Kasich. He won re-election in 2014 with 64 percent of the vote against a weak Democratic opponent. And a year ago, he expanded the state’s Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

The central state, with its mix of big cities and rural expanses, is a political battleground state in the country’s quadrennial presidential elections, with no Republican ever winning the White House without carrying Ohio. Kasich has been pushing the narrative that Ohio’s troubled economy has rebounded while he’s been at the helm.