Kasich beginning to build campaign
Committee hiring staff, raising cash for governor's race
Saturday, May 2, 2009 2:59 AM
By Joe Hallett
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
John Kasich served in the U.S. House for 18 years before moving to Wall Street and Fox News.
The 2010 race for governor got under way yesterday when Republican John R. Kasich created a campaign committee to begin raising money and hiring staff.
Kasich, 57, a former 18-year congressman from Westerville and an on-air personality for Fox News, is expected to formally declare his candidacy against incumbent Democrat Ted Strickland by early June.
In a filing with the Ohio secretary of state, Kasich created Kasich for Ohio, designating lawyer Bradley K. Sinnott, chairman of the Franklin County GOP Central Committee, as treasurer of the campaign committee.
"We're off and running," said a confidant who has helped Kasich prepare for a gubernatorial bid.
For two years, Kasich has been ubiquitous at Republican Lincoln Day dinners, drawing big crowds at the county events and exciting the party base with fiery speeches. He now can move forward with a full-scale campaign and begin raising the expected $15 million needed for the race.
"We've all been hoping for this day," said Doug Preisse, chairman of the Franklin County Republican Party. "Now that it's happening, there's a great amount of excitement. It's fair to say that not only Republicans but Ohioans have been looking for a strong leader, and now it looks like we're finding one."
Until its collapse in September, Kasich spent six years as a managing director of Lehman Brothers' investment banking division, a position Democrats have sought to exploit. They also are questioning Kasich's call for the gradual elimination of Ohio's income tax, which generates almost $8 billion annually to operate state government and fund its programs and services.
In a statement, Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern said, "Ohio doesn't need a governor from Lehman Brothers, a governor whose only concern is the wealthy and the well-connected and who has spent the last several years making money in the same financial sector that led to the economic collapse we are facing."
Noting that the income tax raises 34 percent of the state's revenue, Redfern questioned whether Kasich plans to replace it "a massive tax increase on working families or by completely eviscerating Ohio's investment in education and health care?"
Kasich was unavailable for comment, but in a message on his campaign Web site -- www.kasichforohio.com -- he noted Ohio's dire economic condition and said, "We have a lot of hard work ahead, but together we can bring Ohio back."
State Sen. Kevin Coughlin, a Cuyahoga Falls Republican, designated his campaign treasurer for a potential gubernatorial bid Feb. 2. But Coughlin has indicated that he will not challenge Kasich in a primary and might run for another statewide executive office.
Meanwhile, Strickland has begun touting his education-reform plan across the state. On Monday, he will discuss the future of education in Ohio at the Columbus Metropolitan Club luncheon, and on Friday he will be joined at an Ohio State University "Rally for Education Reform" by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan.