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Ohio Governor John Kasich reversed his decision not to endorse in the Republican Presidential primary today and endorsed presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney.
Kasich, who rarely makes endorsements, said just last Sunday on Meet the Press that he would not endorse in the primary.
After host David Gregory hinted that Kasich was running out of excuses not to endorse one of the remaining candidates in the primary, Kasich said he didn’t want to “handicap the horse race” by endorsing before the nomination process was over.
“Let it take care of itself. I, I haven’t endorsed — I said everybody I either endorsed or was for either dropped out or didn’t run, so I’ll wait till we have a nominee,” he said.
Kasich wouldn’t say whether or not he though Romney would be able to win Ohio, a key swing state, in November.
“Oh, it’s going to be close. It’ll be, you know, tight as a, as a tick out here,” he said. “Ohio is a battleground state and it’s those independent voters and whoever can tell them that they’re going to improve this economy , create jobs for families, will be the winner.”
Kasich joins Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) and several Tea Party Freshman members of the House, including Reps. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) and Mick Mulvaney (R-SC), in endorsing Romney this week.
Other endorsements Romney has received from other big names in Ohio politics: Reps. Jim Renacci, Mike Turner and Steve LaTourette, Former U.S. Senator and Ohio Governor George Voinovich, State Senate President Tom Niehaus and U.S. Senator Rob Portman have all endorsed Romney.
Portman, who endorsed Romney ahead of the Ohio primary and is often named by political pundits as a possible running mate for former Massachusetts Governor, was seen as the glue holding Romney’s Ohio team together going into the Ohio primary.
Kasich’s endorsement will hopefully unite warring factions in the Ohio GOP, which recently battled it out to depose state party chair Kevin DeWine. DeWine resigned two weeks ago after it became clear he would not survive a vote of confidence at an upcoming meeting of Ohio’s state central committee members.
