NEOAVATARA

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/05/ohio_john_kasich_filing_for_gu.html

In the worst kept secret in Ohio, former Representative John Kasich today is officially declaring his intention to run for the Republican nomination for Governor, to have the chance to run against current Democrat Governor Ted Strickland.

Republicans wanted Kasich to run in 2006, he demurred, but has been planting the seeds for 2010 since them – in March 2008, he suggested that Ohio’s income tax should be “phased out.” He served last year as honorary chairman of “Recharge Ohio,” a group committed to finding leaders who could “get our state back on track.”  [Full Disclosure:  I am a member of Recharge Ohio, and a link can be seen on the left panel...]

Strickland easily won the governorship in 2006 following a series of Republican corruption cases, culminating in the disastrous term of former Governor Robert Taft.  Strickland has been popular, but has seen his poll numbers drop as he has had to make sharp cuts in the budget to deal with the decreasing tax rolls.  Higher taxes and lower government expenditures is a bad combination to run on re-election on.

Kasich is considered a budget hawk, and was one of many Republicans responsible for the balanced budgets of the 1990s.  He is a strong believer that the income tax in Ohio is too high, and there needs to be a restructuring of the entire state tax code.  He is quite conservative in fiscal and social areas, which in this day and age may make him an extremist in the eye of the federal government.  He is loved by liberatarians and consrvatives, and will provide a formidable challenge to Strickland.  In any event, Kasich sets up an interesting gubernatorial election in 2010.