Former Kasich supporter now disowning him as ‘an angry guy’
Back in August 2016, New Hampshire gubernatorial candidate Chris Sununu basked in the backing of John Kasich, then Ohio’s governor and erstwhile GOP presidential candidate.
“He understands what it takes to run a state, to do it in a compassionate, sound way,” Sununu said of Kasich while accepting the endorsement, the Concord (N.H.) Monitor reported at the time. Kasich was the star attraction later on at a Sununu fundraiser.
Don’t hold your breath for a repeat engagement.
When asked by reporters earlier this month if his criticism of Donald Trump and other Republicans put him in the “John Mccain, John Kasich” lane of GOP politics, Sununu reacted strongly.
“Don’t compare me to John Kasich. John Kasich is an angry guy who goes out of his way to bash his own party. That’s crazy,” Sununu told the Nhjournal
Sununu’s brother, former U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu, was perhaps the most visible Kasich backer in the state’s 2016 first-in-the-nation presidential primary, where the upstart Ohioan finished a solid if distant second to Trump in a crowded Republican field.
The Sununus’ father, John H., was a New Hampshire governor and chief of staff for President George H.W. Bush. Their mother Nancy was chairwoman of the state’s Republican Party.
Former Kasich strategist now running for Congress – as a Democrat
Speaking of Kasich...
One of his young 2016 campaign aides and an employee in his governor’s office is running for Congress in Rhode Island – as a Democrat.
“My path led me to travel the country, advocating for Governor John Kasich in his bid for president of the United States,” Michael Neary, 28, said in a news release, per the Providence Journal. “I later had the chance to work directly in the office of the governor where I learned up close what it means to truly govern effectively.”
Neary, who wants to cancel student debt up to $50,000 and raise the minimum wage to at least $20 an hour, was the fifth Democrat to jump in the race to succeed Democratic Rep. Jim Langevin, who is not seeking re-election. Neary, a senior analyst for CVS Health, grew up in Rhode Island and says he is moving back from Columbus for the campaign.
60% of Ohio Republicans say 2020 election stolen from Donald Trump
Speaking of Trump...
While stories keep appearing about how some Republicans may be starting to distance themselves from the former president, that hasn’t taken hold in Ohio, a recent poll suggests.
Some findings from that poll of Buckeye State Republican voters by veteran GOP survey firm Fabrizio Lee.
• An “overwhelming” 94% say the country is on the wrong-track.
• Trump has a 91% positive job approval.
• More than 60% say the 2020 election was stolen from Trump and more than 90% say there was fraud.
• The top issues are Trump favorites immigration (16%) and election security (13%).
“The political environment continues to be reliably pro-trump” the survey said.
The best messages to persuade Ohio GOP voters: cutting federal aid to localities that allow non-citizens to vote, requiring proof of citizenship to get public assistance, and allowing border states to complete the wall with Mexico.
The 98-page Powerpoint presentation, conducted primarily to determine the viability of J.D. Vance’s U.S. Senate campaign on behalf of a super-pac supporting the Hillbilly Elegy author, was featured on Politico. If Vance were to get Trump’s endorsement, it would triple his support overnight, the poll found.
The survey of 800 likely 2022 GOP Ohio primary voters from Jan. 18-20 has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5% percentage points. Fabrizio has handled polling for Trump, Jim Renacci’s campaign against Gov. Mike Dewine and Ohio Sen. Rob Portman.
Portman and Brown:
Joe Biden blew it on solar panels
Speaking of Portman ...
The GOP senator from Cincinnati and Cleveland Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown don’t agree on much when it comes to Joe Biden.
But on Feb. 4, the duo put out a joint statement condemning the Biden administration for excluding bifacial solar panels from U.S. import tariffs. Bifacial panels, which can generate electricity on both sides, are preferred by major developers. Many are made by an Ohio company.
“This is a disappointing, misguided decision. The administration is missing the best opportunity in a generation to ensure the United States leads the way in manufacturing solar supply chain components,” said a joint statement from the senators as well as Ohio congressional Democrats Marcy Kaptur and Tim Ryan.
The critics noted that about 80% of solar panels are made in China, and say the Chinese government has a long history of heavily subsidizing its solar enterprises and dumping panels made with exploited workers just to gain market share.
“These kinds of products should not enter the United States duty free,” the group said
Mark Widmar, CEO of First Solar, which operates a plant in Perrysburg just south of Toledo, said in a statement, “This decision effectively allows China to outflank American efforts to grow self-reliant solar supply chains. Allowing Chinese solar manufacturers to have unrestricted access to the US solar market is not a bet on American workers or ingenuity and innovation.”
National election expert sours on Ohio Secretary of State Frank Larose
Rick Hasen, a law and political science professor at University of California-irvine, is one of the better-regarded elections law experts in the country, author of more than 100 articles in various legal journals.
Hasen wrote a blog Thursday entitled “What Has Happened to Ohio Secretary of State Frank Larose? Once a Sensible Republican Voice on Election Administration, He’s Now Starting to Ride the Trump Train.”
About two years ago he interviewed Larose and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson for a panel Hasen convened on the 2020 election and noted how “reasonable and sensible they both were on exaggerated claims of voter fraud.”
Now that Larose is running in a contested GOP primary, however, he says “Trump is right to say voter fraud is a serious problem” and that the news media are underplaying it.
The cases of potential fraud cited by Larose amount to 0.0005% of the 2020 ballots cast in Ohio.
Hasen called the turnaround “very sad. I thought Secretary Larose, even when I disagreed with him on some things, was fundamentally a person of integrity and honesty.” drowland@dispatch.com @darreldrowland