Ohio Gov. John Kasich said he backs a “reasonable” federal minimum wage increase Tuesday, becoming one of the few GOP presidential candidates to do so.
“Have it be reasonable,” Kasich said to MLive, a Michigan publication, “because you could have unintended consequences if you start imposing a high wage, which could actually lead to fast-food restaurants putting in kiosks and middle-management people being upset that they can’t get a raise.”
{mosads}He declined to get into the specifics of a proposed increase, noting Ohio’s “gradual” minimum wage that moves with the consumer price index.
“I wouldn’t get into numbers right now,” he said.
“I just think you have to be realistic, and management and labor can sit down and talk about what is an effective way to help.”
The Huffington Post first reported Kasich’s comments.
Kasich joins retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and former Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.) as GOP presidential candidates who are open to a minimum wage hike. Carson told CNBC in May that the federal $7.25 minimum wage should “probably” be higher.
And while Santorum has criticized efforts by Democrats to raise the wage to $10.10, he’s touted a smaller increase of 50 cents an hour per year for three years.
The rest of the field does not support a raise to the federal minimum wage.