--- title: John Kasich Faces a Tough Test in Ohio description: The Ohio Governor is betting on a strong showing when the Republican primary arrives in his state. It's win-or-quit time for the contender. canonical: https://time.com/4256526/john-kasich-ohio-primary/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-12T03:11:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:59.029Z article:section: Politics og:title: John Kasich Faces a Tough Test in Heartland Homeland og:description: He has to win his home state of Ohio. og:url: https://time.com/4256526/john-kasich-ohio-primary/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7574f5688280adf7/69888abc0b72e3e85c6e880b/john-kasich1.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Republican presidential candidate Ohio Gov. John Kasich greets supporters following a rally at the Lansing Brewing Company on March 8, 2016 in Lansing, Michigan. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: John Kasich Faces a Tough Test in Heartland Homeland twitter:description: He has to win his home state of Ohio. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7574f5688280adf7/69888abc0b72e3e85c6e880b/john-kasich1.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Kasich Faces a Tough Test in Heartland Homeland > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ## Video: See What's Next For John Kasich [Watch (HLS stream): See What's Next For John Kasich](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FQjzR1wT.m3u8) (2:11)  _Published 2016-02-10_  by [Philip Elliott / Moraine, Ohio](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott / Moraine, Ohio Senior Correspondent Mar 12, 2016 3:11 AM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Ohio Gov. John Kasich greets supporters following a rally at the Lansing Brewing Company on March 8, 2016 in Lansing, Michigan. Republican presidential candidate Ohio Gov. John Kasich greets supporters following a rally at the Lansing Brewing Company on March 8, 2016 in Lansing, Michigan. Scott Olson—2016 Getty Images  by [Philip Elliott / Moraine, Ohio](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott / Moraine, Ohio Senior Correspondent Mar 12, 2016 3:11 AM UTC Ohio Gov. John Kasich stood on a raised platform inside a factory that makes automobile windshields. He took questions for 35 minutes Friday night, ranging from Syria to Social Security, millennials to manufacturing. It was classic Kasich: substantive, sunny and transparent. It’s an approach that might meet its expiration date on Tuesday. Looking at a countdown clock ahead of next week’s win-or-quit Ohio primary, Kasich has been frenetic in his home state looking for the first win of his White House run. He is vowing to triumph here, brushing aside questions on Friday night after his town hall-style meeting at the factory of the Fuyao Group, a Chinese company. “Ohio’s critical. I’m going to win in Ohio,” he said defiantly. Kasich has previously said that Ohio is his Waterloo. If he cannot win here in his home state—and, in the process, collect the 66 delegates up for grabs in a winner-take-all contest—then he will be forced from the race. Kasich is in overdrive trying to keep that from happening. Throughout his campaign, Kasich has cast Ohio as a success story under his stewardship. Hundreds of thousands of new jobs, budget surpluses, increased government efficiency. But these voters here know his record well, and several confronted him during his town hall about changes to the state’s programs for the disabled. “The best place for our special needs folks are to live in the community, not in some big facility,” Kasich told one voter. He asked his staffers to collect contact information from her and another voter who questioned his changes. It’s been a bit of a bitter welcome home for Kasich and a reminder that voters in candidates’ home states are often less forgiving than they are to newcomers. Kasich has been campaigning from coast to coast, but has yet to log any significant victories against frontrunner Donald Trump, whom Trump called “an absentee Governor” earlier this week. Kasich had zero interest in responding with criticism, staying as cheery as ever. “Look, I’m not getting down in the mud with Donald, I mean he loves to be down there wrestling with people. I’m not going to do it,” he told reporters. Kasich has pitched himself as the anti-Trump without every using his name—including scheduling his Friday event in a Chinese corporation that Trump presumably would want to punish as part of his promised trade war. Kasich remains in close quarters with Trump in the state. The most recent Fox News poll has him up five points, while an overlapping Quinnipiac poll has Trump up six. And with polling so wrong heading into Michigan last week, neither campaign is putting much faith in pollsters. Kasich, instead, is hoping voters have his back. “I need your vote,” he said. “If you feel as though this state is doing better, and you want to share it with the rest of the country, then I need your vote on Tuesday.” As Governor, Kasich controls the entire Ohio GOP apparatus. The state party’s chairman, Matt Borges, is one of Kasich’s strongest backers and has been one of his biggest boosters. The state party is a de factor arm of the Kasich campaign, senior Republicans in the state say, and rival campaigns acknowledge Kasich has built—or co-opted—a superior political machine here. But there are limits to what traditional campaigns can do to derail Trump, the blustery billionaire who has shocked the political Establishment with a string of wins no one predicted. Republicans are now trying to derail a Trump nomination when the party meets in Cleveland for the convention. For that to happen, they need to deny Trump the required 1,237 delegates—the majority of them—before he gets to Cleveland. To help scuttle Trump’s potential nomination on the first ballot, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has reduced his campaign to a one-state operation this week, looking for that state’s 99 delegates. His home state also votes Tuesday and he largely abandoned all others that vote on March 15\. In fact, he’s going as far as to urge his supporters in Ohio to join up with Kasich to help Kasich win the delegates over Trump. Kasich, however, was hardly as generous. Asked if he would urge his Florida backers—the Real Clear Politics average of polls estimates Kasich enjoying about 9% support—Kasich demurred. “What kind of a deal would it be if I told my people, ‘Don’t vote for me,’” Kasich said. It might be the only deal that keeps Trump from the nomination. If Kasich and Rubio both fall on Tuesday, that makes Trump all the more likely to be the GOP’s nominee—the antithesis of Kasich’s Midwest civility. “We’re really getting carried away,” Kasich said when asked about the delegate race. “We have a thousand delegates yet to be picked.” But if Kasich cannot win the 66 up for grabs from his neighbors, it’s unlikely he can persuade strangers to come aboard. ## Transcript There's magic in the air with this campaign because we don't see it as just another campaign. We see this as an opportunity for all of us and I mean all of us to be involved in something that's bigger than our own lives. To change America. To re- shine America. To restore the spirit of America and to leave no one behind. Am I right? That's what we're all fighting for. [ APPLAUSE ] The big story tonight is the second place finisher John Kasich. The Ohio Governor who rode A New Hampshire retail strategy with more than a hundred town halls here to a big second place finish. A couple of months back nobody really knew Kasich, but he ran here sorta on a message of compassionate conservatism. Designed to stand out in a field with a lot of anger and a lot of divisive rhetoric. And it worked for him. We have had tens and tens of millions of dollars spent against us. With negative advertising. Maybe, just maybe, we're turning the page on a dark part of American politics. Because tonight the light overcame the darkness of negative campaigning. [ APPLAUSE ] His victory proved that some of that positive message contrasting with Donald Trump is something that some voters in the Republican party are looking for. He has experience in the government and military. He doesn't bash other politicians. He's very humane in every aspect. I've heard about all the great things that he has done in Ohio. But more importantly his popularity. And areas of Ohio that are dominated by the Democratic Party. And that really caught my attention because that's what America needs right now. It's bringing people together, both urban and rural, who can solve problems. [ APPLAUSE ] The big question is does this give John Kasich momentum. He doesn't really have a big ground operation In South Carolina, we're really beyond. He's also running low on funds really running out of money. New Hampshire is probably not gonna be enough to reset the race for Kasich. He needs to build both those things up really fast if he has a prayer. Obviously this is a more moderate state, South Carolina. Far more conservative state, and that's gonna be a big test for him going forward. [ APPLAUSE ] Kasich! Kasich! Kasich! Kasich! Kasich! Kasich! Kasich! Kasich! 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