Some Valley Republicans bemoan Kasich's snub of Trump

By DAVID SKOLNICK

skolnick@vindy.com

CLEVELAND

Some Mahoning Valley Republicans at the party’s national convention said they are “disappointed” that Ohio Gov. John Kasich, whom they backed for president, isn’t coming out in support of Donald Trump.

“If we’re going to win this election, it’s going to take all of us” working together, said Mahoning County Republican Party Chairman Mark Munroe of Boardman, a Republican National Convention alternate delegate.

“Without Gov. Kasich’s support, it hurts our efforts. Unless we come together as a party, we risk losing this election.”

Ohio traditionally has been a key battleground state in presidential elections and is expected again to play a huge role in deciding the next president.

Kasich quit the race for the Republican presidential nomination May 4 with only one primary win – his home state of Ohio. He was a distant fourth in the overall delegate count.

But Ohio was a winner-take-all-delegates race, so all 66 of the state’s delegates to the convention as well as its 66 alternates backed Kasich in the primary.

Kasich, the convention’s host governor, has refused to endorse Trump.

While the RNC is in Cleveland, Kasich is having events – including a quick, but big, party at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – and is speaking to state delegations, but has no plans to step foot inside Quicken Loans Arena, where the convention’s official business is occurring.

Supporters and campaign officials for Trump and Kasich have exchanged criticisms.

U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson of Marietta, R-6th, told The Vindicator on Tuesday, however, that he and LeeAnn, his wife, met privately for about 15 to 20 minutes with Trump before the presidential candidate spoke at a rally in St. Clairsville a couple of weeks ago.

“He asked, ‘Do I have to have John Kasich’s support to win Ohio?’” Johnson said.

The congressman said he told Trump, “It certainly would help.”

Though Trump carried Johnson’s 18-county district – from the southern portion of Mahoning County to the southern part of the state – “by a wide margin,” the congressman said, “John Kasich still won the state of Ohio.”

Columbiana County Republican Party Chairman Dave Johnson of Salem, an RNC delegate and prominent Republican leader in the state, said about 95 percent to 98 percent of Republicans who backed Kasich – including himself - “are behind Trump and will be in the trenches with him. It’s a nonissue.”

Johnson said the night before Kasich quit the race, Johnson received a phone call from a “prominent national Republican,” whom he declined to identify, telling him that Trump wanted Kasich to be his running mate.

Johnson said he spoke hours later to Kasich in a brief conversation about the offer.

“He told me, “I’ve worked my entire career for my ideals. It isn’t going to happen.’” Johnson said. “He said he’d gotten other calls.”

Johnson said he’s not disappointed that Kasich isn’t backing Trump.

At Tuesday’s event at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Kasich thanked supporters for backing his presidential bid.

Kasich said he didn’t continue his presidential bid because “to go forward I would have to tell people things that weren’t true, and I didn’t want to lose [my] message” of hope and unity.

Kasich didn’t elaborate on what he meant by not telling people truthful things and failed to mention that the only way he could have captured the nomination was a nearly impossible effort to take the position during a floor fight at the RNC – something his campaign was touting as late as the evening before he quit the race.

The governor also told the nearly 2,000 people in attendance that “the campaign changed me” and he has “never been more satisfied.”

He urged people to “do the very best you can to make a difference in the world.”

People stood for more than 90 minutes, with some outside in the heat for most of that time, to hear Kasich.

The event was chaotic with most people not gaining access to the inner portion of the hall, where Kasich gave his brief remarks, until 3:20, 10 minutes before the official start time.

John Creed of Liberty, an alternate delegate, said: “It’s disappointing that the governor won’t support Donald Trump. When you have the votes and you win the primary, you get the support [of the losing candidates]. The vote didn’t go his way, so he should go with the other guy. I’d definitely like to see Kasich support Trump.”

Creed said Kasich’s lack of support won’t hurt Trump in Ohio. “At the end of the day, no, I don’t think it has an impact,” Creed said.

“It’s a distraction right now. People are talking about it. But once the week progresses, we’ll move on to another issue.”

Trumbull County Republican Party Chairman Randy Law of Warren, who was at Kasich’s Tuesday event, said the governor’s not supporting Trump “will have some effect, but I think things will eventually get resolved. It’s a family feud.”

Law said he was “disappointed” that Kasich isn’t backing Trump.

“We need to give people time,” Law said. “It just takes a while.”

U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican from the Cincinnati area, said: “We need to make sure we work together,” and he expects Kasich to eventually back Trump.

Tracey Winbush of Youngstown, an RNC delegate and Mahoning County Republican Party vice chairwoman, said she went to five states to campaign for Kasich, and doesn’t object to the governor’s not backing Trump.

“I’d prefer to have a person who stands firm than one who waffles,” she said. “It’s past the point of [Kasich backing Trump]. It’s a sign of weakness on his part if he does now – and the governor is not that kind of man. He won’t be moved.”

Meanwhile, one of the most-talked-about items coming out of Monday’s RNC event was the partial plagiarism by Melania Trump, the candidate’s wife, of Michelle Obama’s speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

A number of party leaders, however, said they knew nothing about the issue.

Portman said he hadn’t “seen the reporting” on the controversy, but he “liked the speech.”

Bill Johnson said, “I haven’t heard a word about it.”

But Dave Johnson said Tuesday, “I woke up this morning and see the exact wording, and I’m just blown away. Somebody needs to be fired for this. It’s not her fault. She relied on others, though she had input. It’s regrettable. It’s not what this election will hinge on. It’s an unsophisticated, nonpolitical campaign and that can happen.”

The Trump campaign doesn’t plan to fire or discipline anyone over the issue and has not acknowledged that two passages in the speech were nearly identical to the Obama speech from eight years ago.