--- title: John Kasich: 5 Things to Know About the Republican Candidate description: Here's where Ohio Governor John Kasich stands on a few key issues, including abortion and health care. canonical: https://time.com/4214910/john-kasich-republican-new-hampshire/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-10T00:23:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:42:21.584Z article:section: Politics og:title: 5 Things to Know About John Kasich og:description: 1. He is against abortion og:url: https://time.com/4214910/john-kasich-republican-new-hampshire/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta6560a7eb3e46e9c/69887cdb428a9ef11acd1513/jonh-kasich-ohio-new-hampshire.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: New Hampshire Residents Vote In The First-In-The-Nation New Hampshire Primary og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 5 Things to Know About John Kasich twitter:description: 1. He is against abortion twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta6560a7eb3e46e9c/69887cdb428a9ef11acd1513/jonh-kasich-ohio-new-hampshire.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 5 Things to Know About John Kasich > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=3fa4ac0f-ea97-4018-8f53-72fbc745037c&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 12 Hours on the Campaign Trail [Watch (HLS stream): 12 Hours on the Campaign Trail](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WQuMJswt.m3u8) (3:58)  _Published 2016-02-07. Across New Hampshire, candidates are engaging in the kind of retail politics that is only possible in a small state: attending luncheons and speaking at town halls, shaking voters’ hands in restaurants, and taking hundreds of selfies._  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Feb 10, 2016 12:23 AM UTC  John Kasich, governor of Ohio and 2016 Republican presidential candidate, greets voters while arriving at a polling station at Broken Gound Elementary School in Concord, New Hampshire. John Kasich, governor of Ohio and 2016 Republican presidential candidate, greets voters while arriving at a polling station at Broken Gound Elementary School in Concord, New Hampshire. Bloomberg-Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Feb 10, 2016 12:23 AM UTC [Ohio Governor John Kasich](https://johnkasich.com/meet-john/) was surging on Google and leading the Republican field in terms of searches before polls closed Tuesday, [according to New Hampshire search data](http://time.com/4214305/new-hampshire-primary-google-predictions/). Here’s a little background on the candidate and where he stands on five key issues: **Abortion** Kasich is against abortion and federal funding of abortion. The candidate calls himself a “strong, consistent and committed believer in the sanctity of human life” on his campaign website. The governor enacted a law in 2011 that [bans late-term abortions](http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2011/07/gov%5Fkasich%5Fsigns%5Flate-term%5Fabo.html), when a pregnancy is 20 weeks along. **Guns** Kasich is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and opposes President Obama’s gun-control executive orders. The gun owner’s 2014 re-election bid was endorsed by the National Rifle Association.  New Hampshire 2016 Primary results -- 92% precincts reporting **Health Care** Kasich believes Obamacare should be repealed because he said it has increased the cost of health insurance in Ohio while raising taxes. **Terrorism** Kasich has said he believes it will require boots on the ground to wipe out ISIS and other extremist groups. He also calls for a better international plan to fight the terrorist group, which involves mutual defense action by NATO and regional allies. Part of Kasich’s plan also includes increasing support to the Kurdish military and creating no-fly zones, according to his campaign site. **Background** Kasich, 63, is originally from Pennsylvania. He and his wife Karen have twin 16-year-old daughters. Kasich was re-elected to be Ohio’s governor in 2014\. Before that, he spent 18 years in Congress. Kasich announced his candidacy for President last July. ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] [00:11] Theres just a few days left until the primary. So here in [00:15] New Hampshire all the candidates are hosting events [00:19] 30 minutes, maybe 10, 15 minutes away from each [00:21] other Throughout the day. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Okay. Kind [00:21] of crazy stairs. The camera lady should be [00:32] careful. Ask yourselves this. [00:37] How many presidential elections have you heard the [00:39] same things? We're gonna secure the border. We've [00:43] been talking about that for 25 years, folks. We're [00:46] gonna reform the tax code. We're gonna reform social [00:49] security. We're gonna care for our veterans. Has any of [00:52] that happened in the last 40 years? No. When [00:57] we began our campaign, there were a lot of media [01:01] pundits who were commenting on my hair. [ LAUGH ] [01:07] [ INAUDIBLE ] A lot has changed in the last nine [01:12] months. Is it fair that we have more [01:16] income and wealth inequality than any major country [01:17] on Earth today? Why is that? [ APPLAUSE ] [ INAUDIBLE ] [01:17] [ INAUDIBLE ] [ APPLAUSE ] Sometimes run into people [01:20] who say I'm trying to make [01:29] up my mind between you and Senator Sanders. [01:33] Sometimes they have a specific question, but [01:35] sometimes they said, well, it's kinda between my heart [01:35] and my head. I said, well I can solve that for [01:39] you. What motivates me everyday is [01:44] what's in my heart. [ APPLAUSE ] I wanna say a word to [01:47] the extraordinary People particularly young people [01:52] who are supporting Senator Sanders. I know you may [01:55] not be for me now, but I am for you and I << will work [01:57] hard. [ MUSIC ] [ CROSSTALK ] Whoo. Whoo. [01:57] [ UNKNOWN ] How are you? Good to see you [01:57] [ UNKNOWN ]. Good to see you. [ CROSSTALK ] [02:16] We really wanted to come by cause [ UNKNOWN ] was [02:17] the place where we kicked off our campaign in June. [02:21] On the day that we announced we left New Jersey [02:23] came right to New Hampshire and did our first town [02:25] hall meeting. Thank you. Thank you for coming. Thank [02:28] you. You enjoyed it up here right? Yes we did. We just [02:31] left the Christi event and it only lasted 15 minutes. It [02:34] was definitely the shortest event of the day. [02:35] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Over and [02:40] over again, when we face impossible odds, the [02:44] American people rose to the challenge. [02:48] Everyone's here tonight because we recognize our [02:50] country's in crisis. We're bankrupting our kids and [02:53] grandkids. Our Constitutional rights are under assault [02:56] each and every day. And America has receded from [02:59] leadership in the world and it has made the world a [03:02] much more dangerous place. The stakes in this [03:06] election could not be higher. [ NOISE ] If we wake up [03:10] on, what is it, the first Wednesday in November, [03:11] maybe it's the second Wednesday in November, to the [03:13] news that Bernie Sanders is the president of the United [03:14] States. Or to the news that Hilary Clinton is [03:21] the president of the United States. [ NOISE ] You [03:25] like her less than Bernie. [ LAUGH ] If you nominate [03:29] me, I will unify this party. We can't win unless we're [03:29] together and the Democrats would love nothing more [03:36] than to have us fighting against each other for the next [03:38] six months. I will unify the conservative movement, if [03:40] I'm our nominee. [ APPLAUSE ]. [ MUSIC ]. Take care [03:40] buddy. 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