John Richard Kasich (born May 13, 1952) is an American politician, former television host, and the 69th and current Governor of Ohio. First elected in 2010 and re-elected in 2014, Kasich is a member of the Republican Party. His second term ends on January 14, 2019; he cannot stand for reelection due to term limits.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Kasich has lived much of his adulthood in Ohio, specifically the state capital of Columbus. Kasich served nine terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Ohio's 12th congressional district from 1983 to 2001. His tenure in the House included 18 years on the House Armed Services Committee and six years as chairman of the House Budget Committee. He was a key figure in the passage of both 1996 welfare reform legislation and the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.

Kasich worked for Fox News, hosting Heartland with John Kasich from 2001 to 2007 and was a fill-in host for The O'Reilly Factor. He also worked as an investment banker, serving as managing director of the Lehman Brothers office in Columbus, Ohio.

In the 2010 Ohio gubernatorial election, Kasich defeated Democratic incumbent Ted Strickland. He was re-elected in 2014, defeating Democrat Ed FitzGerald by 30 percentage points.

Kasich unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for president in 2000 and in 2016, receiving 1 electoral vote from a faithless elector in Texas. In 2016, Kasich refused to support the Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump; instead he voted for U.S. Senator and former 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.