Ohio Gov. John Kasich collected another endorsement from a prominent Southern Republican on Tuesday. Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott pledged his support to the governor, and will serve as a national co-chair on Kasich’s campaign.
“I’ve known John Kasich a long time and watched with pride and admiration as, time and again, he’s shown the world what conservative ideas can do to strengthen economies and make our country more secure,” Lott said in a statement released by the Kasich campaign. “His leadership on the House Budget Committee was essential to getting the federal budget balanced and he’s applied that same approach in Ohio and it’s brought his state back to life. We need his keen budget mind in the White House to help get our federal budget reined in.
“His long experience on national security and foreign policy is just as critical, and his call for a stronger military — especially a stronger Navy, and better allied relationships will help make our country safer as the world only becomes more dangerous. I’m proud to join his team and I look forward to doing all I can to help him take back the White House and strengthening our great nation.”
Lott, 73, spent 35 years in Congress from Mississippi’s delegation, and rose through the ranks of GOP leadership in the Senate to secure the top spot. His colleagues ousted him from that position after he made comments praising former South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond, who ran as a “Dixiecrat” for president in 1948.
Thurmond’s states’ rights platform challenged the civil rights movement of the mid-20th century. At Thurmond’s 100th birthday party, Lott reportedly said Mississippi voted for Thurmond, remained proud of its vote and the country would have been better off had others done the same. He later apologized.
A few years after Lott’s colleagues pushed him out of the top spot, they lifted him back into party leadership as the Senate’s Republican whip.
“Trent is a friend whom I respect and whose leadership has been of enormous benefit to our country,” Kasich said in a statement on Tuesday. “He’s got a keen policy mind with experience across the full scope of federal issues and political wisdom that’s been honed in the trenches. I’m humbled that he’s on our team and excited about the work we’re going to be able to do together to win this race and begin lifting up our nation for everyone.”
When asked about the issue of race and the Black Lives Matter protests earlier this year, Kasich said, “All lives do matter,” but emphasized that, “Black lives matter, especially now.”
Lott follows Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley who endorsed Kasich last week. Bentley cited Kasich’s “compassion for people” and record as a congressman and governor as chief among the reasons he backed Ohio’s governor.
In national polls of GOP primary voters, Kasich is tied for seventh place with Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, according to RealClearPolitics’ average of polls. Kasich secured the final spot at the first primetime GOP presidential debate in Cleveland, Ohio, earlier this month. The next debate will take place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., in September, and Kasich will look to maintain his foothold on its main stage.
