User:BD2412/John Kasich 2024 presidential campaign

, the 2020 presidential campaign of John Kasich, the 69th Governor of Ohio, is widely speculated to already be underway. Speculation began during the 2016 primaries, when Kasich remained in the contest after it became clear that he had no path to the nomination. Kasich began preparing for a 2020 run before the 2016 general election, with the expectation by supporters that Donald Trump would be defeated in his 2016 campaign for the presidency.

2016 race
Following his withdrawal from the race, Kasich did not extend his support to Trump. In May and June 2016, Kasich said that Trump was a divisive figure rather than a "unifier," said that he had no plans to endorse Trump in the near future, and ruled out accepting the position of vice-presidential running mate under Trump. Kasich stated that it was "hard to say" whether he would ever endorse Trump and added: "I can't go for dividing, name calling, or somebody that doesn't really represent conservative principles." Kasich says that he has ruled out voting for Hillary Clinton, but lacks the enthusiasm to fully back Trump.

In August 2016, Kasich repeated an earlier claim that the Trump campaign had offered him a powerful vice presidency, "putting him in charge of all domestic and foreign policy". The Trump campaign denied that such an offer had been made. Kasich also doubted whether Trump could win Ohio, a critical state in the election. Later that month, Trump ally and conspiracy theorist Roger Stone claimed that Kasich would rig the Ohio vote to allow Hillary Clinton to win the state. It was speculated that Kasich was looking towards a 2020 campaign, with the expectation that Trump would be defeated in the 2016 campaign. This speculation was strengthened by a report that Kasich had planned to give a speech to the American Enterprise Institute less than 48 hours after the election but cancelled it the morning after the election when it was clear that Trump won.

Kasich received one electoral vote for the presidency from a faithless elector, Christopher Suprun of Texas, who had been pledged to vote for Trump. An elector in Colorado also attempted to vote for him, but their vote was discarded and they were replaced by an alternate elector who voted for Hillary Clinton, as pledged.

2017-18 developments
Observers have noted that Kasich has repeatedly refused to rule out the possibility of being a candidate for the 2020 Republican Party presidential nomination, where he would presumably either be challenging Trump as the incumbent President, or vying in a field in which Trump had chosen not to run again, or was otherwise unable to run again. It was noted in May 2017 that Kasich was "maintaining a political organization, planning on forming a team, and won't be waiting on the results of the midterm elections to make up his mind". Politico similarly observed that Kasich "seems intent on maintaining a presence in the national arena — even when he knows that it looks like the early stages of a presidential bid".

In February 2017, Kasich met with Trump at the White House, a private meeting that followed a bitter feud. Kasich indicated that he hoped for Trump's success, but would continue to be critical when he thought it was necessary. The same month, Kasich's chief political advisors launched a political group, Two Paths America, in an effort to promote Kasich and his views and draw a contrast with Trump. In April 2017, Kasich also released a book, Two Paths: America Divided or United, written with Daniel Paisner. The creation of the group prompted speculation he could possibly run for president again, but Kasich said that he had no plans to seek elected office again.

On April 24, 2017, during a CNN town hall, Kasich, while stating that he was "very unlikely" to do so, reopened the possibility of running for president in 2020. On August 20, however, he reiterated his previous statement on having no plans to run. Rather, he stated that he is "rooting for [Trump] to get it together." On August 25, 2017, it was reported that Kasich was considering the possibility of a 2020 unity ticket with Kasich at the top and Democratic Colorado governor John Hickenlooper as vice president.

In October 2017, New York reported that Kasich "retains a skeletal campaign staff, and they are helping him to think through his options: Should he run as a Republican in the primaries or as an Independent in the general election?"

It was reported in January 2018 that Kasich had scheduled to return to New Hampshire, a critical state for the presidential primaries, in April 2018. In February 2018, it was reported that Trump had launched a preemptive attack against Kasich, criticizing and making fun of Kasich several times at a Republican National Committee dinner in Washington, D.C. In April 2018, Kasich indicated that it was unlikely that he would run as an independent politician.

2019 developments
In February 2019, the Kasich for America political action committee sent a statement to supporters saying: "As we get closer to the 2020 elections, the buzz about who's running grows every day. Many have suggested Gov. Kasich should run, and he is keeping all of his options on the table". In mid-March 2018, Kasich published an editorial calling on Republicans to reject Trump's declaration of a national emergency with respect to the proposed wall between the United States and Mexico, describing it as "President Trump's effort to circumvent Congress simply by invoking the magic word 'emergency'", and describing Trump as "playing to his base, focused on politics not policy".

In August 2019, Kasich said that he saw no path to defeat Trump in the primaries at that point, although he noted that things could change.