Ohio Gov. John Kasich said Republican lawmakers need to beware of a wave of young voters coming out against them in November if no real action on gun control is taken.
Kasich said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that protests such as the March For Our Lives on Saturday show young Democrats are motivated to go to the polls in November. Since that’s a voting constituency that rarely comes out to vote in midterm elections, trouble could be brewing for the GOP, Kasich said.
“We’ve already seen what the public thinks. We saw an election in Pennsylvania where the people are basically saying they can’t stand what’s happening in Washington. And, yeah, I really do believe that,” Kasich said when asked if Republicans should be worried.
However, Kasich also had a warning for the students who organized the march and the people who attended: It’s going to take sustained effort to change anything.
Kasich said there are firmly entrenched powers who are going to resist gun control legislation at every step. It will only be through consistent and concerted effort that change will come, he said.
“The fact of the matter is it’s a massive effort here and it reminds me of some of the protests that have changed the people in office. But they have to keep it up,” he said. “If they don’t keep it up, those that want no change will just sit on their hands. They will never come out and say anything. They will just try to stall, stall, stall until the steam comes out of the kettle.”
“The fact is if we can keep the pressure on we’re not going to change everything overnight, but you can get significant change, and I hope so. And if they do not, if they do not bring about change, I think people should be held absolutely accountable at the ballot box and no question about it.“
