Ohio GOP endorses Kasich for president

By Marc Kovac

news@vindy.com

COLUMBUS

The Ohio Republican Party has endorsed Gov. John Kasich for president, an unusual move for the statewide group in advance of a primary election season that could swing in favor of a different candidate.

The vote during the central and executive committee meeting Friday was 44-9, though a majority of members afterward moved to make the selection unanimous.

“We are in an unprecedented time as Ohio Republicans,” Matt Borges, chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, told reporters after the meeting. “It’s the first time we’ve had a Republican get this far in the process in 70 years, the first time we have a convention coming to Ohio in 80 years, what we’ve done with the first primary debate and now the first general election debate. Ohio’s going to be more in the center of the political universe than it always is, anyway, in a presidential year.”

There was little discussion of the endorsement before two written-ballot votes – one allowing a presidential endorsement and a second on Kasich, the lone candidate put forth for consideration.

Borges recapped Kasich’s accomplishments since taking office in 2011 and his lopsided re-election victory two years ago.

“This was an opportunity for us to express our appreciation and our support of our governor, who we love and who is doing a wonderful job and who’s going to go out and really make us proud here in a couple of weeks in New Hampshire and then carry this thing forward,” Borges said. “And hopefully it leads to a place where he’s our nominee.”

Borges said the Ohio Republican Party would ultimately support whichever candidate receives the nomination to run in the general election, whether it’s Kasich or someone else.

He added, “A Republican won’t get to the White House without carrying Ohio, and John Kasich has proven that he’s a very strong candidate here.”

Not all conservatives were happy with the endorsement decision, though.

Tom Zawistowski, head of one of the largest tea-party groups in the state, who several years ago sought the chairmanship of the Ohio Republican Party, said surveys he’s completed show more Republican support for other presidential candidates.

“The surveys that I have done, and I have seen, show that John Kasich currently has the support of 12 percent of Ohio Republican voters who are highly likely to vote in the primary. By voting to endorse Kasich [on] Friday, they are exposing the fact that they do not represent 88 percent of real Republicans, most of whom are supporting [Donald] Trump or [U.S. Sen. Ted] Cruz.”