John Kasich is reportedly in talks to speak at the Democratic National Convention in support of Joe Biden.
The former Ohio governor, one of a number of high-profile Republicans critical of President Trump who are likely to campaign for Biden in the fall, was approached about speaking at next month’s convention and is expected to do so, according to a source familiar with the plans who spoke to the Associated Press.
Biden’s campaign did not confirm the negotiation with Kasich, saying only that it had started to court Republicans to campaign for Biden and against Trump.
“In terms of Republican supporters, I think it speaks to a career of being able to work across the aisle, of being able to actually get things done,” Biden’s deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield told the Associated Press. “We welcome the support of anybody who’d rather see Joe Biden be president than Donald Trump.”
Kasich, a House member representing the Columbus area from 1983-2001 and House Budget Committee chairman during the final six years of his tenure, ran against Trump in 2016 when he sought the Republican presidential nomination. Kasich stayed in the race longer than any of the others in the crowded primary field as a protest against Trump, despite it being mathematically impossible for him to gather enough delegates to win the Republican presidential nomination. He dropped out of the race in May 2016 only after Trump had won enough delegates to become the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
A few other politicians who were technically a part of the opposite party, or independents, have spoken at the major party national conventions in recent years. Florida Rep. Charlie Crist, a former GOP governor, flipped from a Republican to an independent in 2010 and spoke at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, before joining the Democratic party in 2012. A former Georgia governor and senator, Zell Miller, a Democrat, was the keynote speaker at the 2004 Republican National Convention.
