Kasich: Ohio Republican critics will be ‘running to me in the fall’

Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) said on Tuesday that Ohio Republicans who have distanced themselves from him in the state’s primaries will come running back to him during the general elections in November. 

“They’ll all be running to me in the fall,” Kasich told BuzzFeed News. 

Kasich, a frequent critic of President Trump who ran against him the 2016 GOP presidential primary, has alienated some prominent members of his state party with his attacks on Trump.

{mosads}Kasich was referring to Republican politicians, including gubernatorial frontrunner state Attorney General Mike DeWine, using Kasich’s endorsement of Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor (R) to attack her in the state’s gubernatorial primary race. 

BuzzFeed reported last week that a super PAC supporting DeWine sent out a mailer attacking Taylor with the line “Ohio Can’t Afford a 3rd Kasich Term.”

Taylor has, in turn, distanced herself from Kasich. 

Kasich visited New Hampshire on Tuesday, further fueling speculation he could challenge Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Kasich has said that “all options” are on the table for his future. 

An American Research Group poll, first reported by BuzzFeed on Monday, showed Trump leading Kasich by 6 points — 48 percent to 42 percent — in a theoretical two-way race among likely Republican voters.