Gov. Kasich’s backing a mixed blessing for GOP’s Mary Taylor

CLEVELAND (AP) — Ohio’s lieutenant governor enters the 2018 race for the state’s top job on Friday with the promised backing of Republican Gov. John Kasich.

Whether the endorsement of a leading detractor of President Donald Trump helps or hurts Republican Mary Taylor in her bid to lead the battleground state is unclear.

Taylor embraced Kasich administration accomplishments including righting the economy, reducing regulations and cutting taxes during Friday’s announcement at the City Club of Cleveland — but without ever mentioning Kasich by name.

“Our progress is real, but we are not satisfied. We are scaling the mountain, but we are not yet at the summit. Now is not the time to rest and to wait,” she said. “Our state can be even greater. There are magnificent things we can do, stubborn problems we can solve, and individual lives we can help repair.”

Taylor, 51, of Green, is the final high-profile Republican expected to join the race to succeed Kasich, who can’t run again due to term limits. She faces Attorney General Mike DeWine, Secretary of State Jon Husted and U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, of Wadsworth, in a primary race that promises to divide the loyalties of Ohio’s GOP base.

Kasich’s backing could prove beneficial to Taylor amid the crowded field. He won Ohio’s Republican presidential primary last year with more than 930,000 votes — more than Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton or Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and nearly as many as Trump and Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio combined.

Yet more recent polling has found that Trump’s favorability slightly exceeds Kasich’s among Ohio voters.

Some voters, like 68-year-old Jack Boyle, were put off when the Republican governor clashed with Trump last year, refusing to endorse him, appear with him or attend the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, where he secured the nomination.

“I’m disappointed,” the retired financial adviser said Friday in Cleveland. “Kasich could have been a better sport about the whole thing. His behavior at the convention was an embarrassment, and once Trump became president, Kasich’s a regular on CNN panels, calling Trump crazy.”