COLUMBUS, Ohio – Governor John Kasich is facing a primary challenge from his right flank in his bid for reelection.
Ohio Tea Party leader Ted Stevenot will announce at a news conference in downtown Columbus next Tuesday that he’s mounting a campaign for the Republican nomination for governor, challenging Kasich, who incurred the wrath of the Tea Party wing of the Ohio GOP when he expanded Medicaid using federal funds provided by the Affordable Care Act.
Around the nation, the general order of battle is becoming clear for Republicans and Democrats in the November midterm elections. Republicans are looking capitalize on the clumsy implementation of the health care overhaul and an economy that’s still growing slowly. Democrats say they’ll paint Republicans as out-of-touch allies of the wealthy.
Stevenot is a past president of the Ohio Liberty Coalition and a business owner from the Cincinnati area. He had filed the initial paperwork to enter the primary in December.
He says he will introduce conservative Brenda Mack of Canfield as his running mate
Mack is the former President of the Ohio Black Republicans Association and is stepping down as vice president of the Ohio chapter of The Frederick Douglass Foundation, a conservative Christian education and public policy organization, to run for lieutenant governor, according to the organization’s Facebook page.