John Kasich contrasts moderation with GOP frontrunner
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — Ohio Gov. John Kasich brought his message of moderate conservatism to Iona College and told supporters Saturday he is pinning his hopes on the July convention to become the Republican presidential nominee.
Kasich, who had three events across the state Saturday, talked optimistically of working together and contrasted himself with Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, whom Kasich said separates rather than unites.
"America is already great," the Republican presidential candidate told more than 700 people at Iona College. "We're going to go to the convention and it's going to be something else."
The Ohio governor spoke about compassionate conservatism and the need to help drug addicts and the mentally disabled. He also slammed requiring religious tests for those entering the country and the patrol of Muslim neighborhoods.
Earlier, he assured a Rochester-area audience that his track record shows he is not interested in politicking. Instead he’s here to identify and fix current issues that are on the minds of the American people.
Kasich spoke of his laser focus on decreasing the Ohio state deficit and how he would apply those principles to the national budget. Town Supervisor Bill Reilich of Greece, N.Y., noted that Kasich turned a nearly $8 billion deficit into a $2 billion surplus in the six year since Kasich was first elected governor in 2010.
Slashing the national debt could create more American jobs, the GOP presidential hopeful said. He wants to see tax cuts and a stronger military and said he can do both by cutting wasteful spending. He said he created jobs for more than 400,000 families in Ohio after he took office and managed the state’s debt.
The total number of jobs in Ohio is up about 383,500 since Kasich assumed office in January 2011, according to FactCheck.org. But the state's private-sector job growth rate of 9.3% during his tenure lags behind the national private-sector growth rate of 11.7% as the country recovers from the Great Recession that began in December 2007.
Kasich wants to loosen regulation and taxes on small businesses to help create jobs.
“My Republican roots are my vehicle, not my master,” he told more than 3,000 people at Greece Community and Senior Center. “I’m going to do the best job that I can to restore integrity to that office, and to shift power back to you.”
He called himself the Republicans' best choice in the November election because he said he beats Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton when the two are matched up in polls.
“He’s trustworthy and hardworking, and we didn’t hear any of the name calling we’ve heard other places,” said Kathy Holroyd of Greece.
Both GOP and Democratic presidential hopefuls are campaigning across New York leading up to the state's April 19 primaries. On the GOP side, 95 delegates are up for grabs; 81 are awarded to winners of individual congressional districts, giving both Kasich and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz opportunities to siphon delegates away from GOP frontrunner Donald Trump.
While the Ohio governor has vowed to stay in the race, he trails badly in delegates and is statistically unable to reach the 1,237 needed to clinch the nomination. Including the New York primary, 16 Republican contests have 769 delegates remaining before July's Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
Kasich heads into the state's primary with 143 pledged delegates while Trump leads the way with 736, followed by Cruz with 463.
A recent Monmouth University poll shows Trump with support from 52% of likely Republican voters in New York, compared to 25% for Kasich and 17% for Cruz.
As Republican candidates crisscross the state leading up to the primary, Republican voter enrollment continues to grow.
Outside heavily Democratic New York City, nearly 24,000 people have enrolled as Republicans since November, a 1% increase. About 2.6 million registered Republicans live in the state, a drop from about 3.1 million in 2001.
Contributing: Sarah Taddeo, Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle. Follow Gabriel Rom and Michael D'Onofrio on Twitter: @GabrielRom1 and @mikedonofrio_