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Sources: John Kasich to drop out
| CNN | - |
(CNN)
John Kasich is dropping out of the Republican presidential race, two
sources familiar with the plan confirmed to CNN. Kasich's decision came
after he improbably became the last challenger to Donald Trump, who
emerged as the presumptive GOP ...
Sources: John Kasich to drop out
![john kasich family town hall [subject] ac cooper 1_00000000.jpg](http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/160411211008-john-kasich-family-town-hall-subject-ac-cooper-1-00000000-small-169.jpg)
Story highlights
- John Kasich is leaving the GOP presidential race, leaving Donald Trump as the Republican nominee
- Kasich's only victory was in his home state of Ohio
- "My heart is not in this," he told friends
(CNN)John Kasich is dropping out of the Republican presidential race, two sources familiar with the plan confirmed to CNN.
Kasich's
decision came after he improbably became the last challenger to Donald
Trump, who emerged as the presumptive GOP nominee Tuesday night when Ted
Cruz dropped out.
Even
before winning his home state of Ohio in March, Kasich was facing
pressure to get out of the race, with no clear path to victory. His
campaign never became more than a spoiler run, designed to keep Trump
from getting the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination before a
contested convention.
But he was
not yet ready to quit. Kasich had fundraisers scheduled in the
Washington area Wednesday, and was on a plane at the Columbus airport
when he had a change of heart.
After
having the plane taxi back from the runway, according to one source
close to Kasich, he then called four of his closest friends, and said,
"My heart is not in this." The source said that his friends then told
Kasich that if his heart is not in it, he ought to do what he needs to
do.
Kasich
was always a somewhat offbeat Republican contender, who laughed at
himself on the trail, occasionally took positions more in line with
Democrats (like expanding Medicaid in Ohio) and touted his ability to
work across the aisle. He sometimes even joked that he would have done
better in the Democratic primaries than in the crowded Republican field.
The two-term governor
attempted to distinguish himself from the the raucous GOP field by
avoiding direct attacks and striking a more positive tone. (His
affiliated super PAC, however, was not shy about criticizing opponents
for being negative.)
Kasich hugged one supporter at a South Carolina town hall
who shared a deeply personal story of losing his friend to suicide and
comforted another woman at a Virginia town hall as she spoke of her
son's autism. And Kasich, himself, shared the deeply personal story of
how he found God after losing both his parents in a car crash.
The
future has clearly been on the mind of the candidate: As of Tuesday
night, there were clearly very high level discussions about what he
should be doing.
One of his
outside advisers said Tuesday night that he expected Kasich to pull out,
but then reversed the story. A senior campaign official said that
Kasich would be staying in the race despite Cruz's withdrawal and would
challenge Trump to debates.
The
official Tuesday night said that Kasich was staying in because there was
"too much to fight for: the soul of the GOP and the future of America."
Publicly, Kasich's campaign also insisted he would stick around.
"Sen.
Ted Cruz just dropped out of the presidential race and it's up to us to
stop Trump and unify our party in time to defeat Hillary Clinton,"
Kasich campaign manager Ben Hansen said in a fundraising email to
supporters Tuesday night.
And
Wednesday morning, a senior outside adviser held a call with donors,
with the game plan to continue to the convention. Another adviser, who
was planning to attend a national security meeting for Kasich, was then
told that the meeting was off.
Kasich
could potentially still end up on the Republican ticket -- he has been
floated as a possible pick for vice president, based in part on his
popularity in Ohio, a crucial swing state.
Kasich's establishment path
Kasich,
who served 18 years in the House before a lucrative stint at Lehman
Brothers, was long viewed as a 2016 dark horse, running in the crowded
"establishment lane" with candidates such as Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio.
Two minutes of #Kasichisms 02:08
He
pinned his hopes early on New Hampshire and dedicated the vast majority
of his time and resources there. Kasich did well there, finishing
second after attending 190 events in the Granite State, according to the
NECN candidate tracker.
His
Granite State focus helped him win the support of key New Hampshire
figures including former Sen. John E. Sununu, son of former New
Hampshire Gov. John H. Sununu and veteran New Hampshire Republican
leader Tom Rath, who was instrumental in Mitt Romney's 2012 bid. He also
won endorsements from The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Nashua
Telegraph and other New Hampshire papers.
Throughout the race Kasich
played up his fiscal bona fides as the last House Budget Committee
chairman to craft a balanced federal budget, during the Clinton
administration.
He
also talked extensively about his working-class upbringing in McKees
Rocks, Pennsylvania, just outside Pittsburgh. He often told the story of
when, as a freshman at Ohio State University in 1970, he wrote a letter
seeking a private audience with President Richard Nixon.
And
his punchline to his Nixon visit? The White House granted him five
minutes with Nixon, but he refused to settle for that and took 20
minutes.
On the trail, Kasich
occasionally stumbled with voters, delivering blunt answers that were
not always popular. In September, he told supporters at a California
golf club that "you leave a little tip" for Hispanic maids, drawing
criticism from some Latino groups.
And a few weeks after that comment, he told one voter that she would have to "get over" proposed cuts to Social Security.
He
earned a spot on the main stage at the first Republican debate last
August, riding a bump from his late-July announcement and staying off
the undercard stage for each debate afterward. But Ohio ended up being
his only moment of triumph.
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