Kasich taps two veteran consultants ahead of potential 2016 bid

Ohio Gov. John Kasich has hired a pair of veteran consultants ahead of a potential 2016 Republican presidential bid, according to multiple reports.

{mosads}Kasich has picked Texas-based John Weaver to become his senior strategist, according to The Washington Post. Weaver is a former top adviser for Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) two presidential bids.

Meanwhile, Kasich’s super-PAC, New Day for America, has hired California-based Fred Davis to work on media and strategy, Bloomberg reported. Davis also worked on McCain’s 2008 campaign.

Both men have reportedly worked on several Republican campaigns together, including for Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.’s 2012 presidential campaign.

Kasich has also recruited pollster Linda DiVall, according to both outlets, fleshing out top positions for a potential presidential bid.

While he has not yet declared his candidacy, the moves signal Kasich is serious about a potential campaign.

He was reelected in a landslide last year and has been mulling a 2016 campaign for months. He would join an increasingly crowded field of around a dozen Republican hopefuls.