State Republican candidates stop in Ottawa By Alicia Benroth-Langhals
Staff Writer
PUTNAM COUNTY -With a platform based on trimming back government and taxing less, Republican candidate for Ohio Governor, John Kasich, campaigned in Putnam County on March 9.
At the Putnam County Republican banquet, Kasich told audience members he grew up outside Pittsburgh, Pa. and graduated from The Ohio State University.
At the age of 26 he was elected to the State Senate and soon thereafter took his initiatives to Congress working with the President of the United States.
Leaving Congress in 2000 to join the business and television worlds, today Kasich looks to get back into politics.
He said, "If you take the political experience and the business experience ... combination of what can make us successful."
Kasich said poverty and job loss are common problems in rural Ohio counties He also indicated that many Ohioans are leaving the state or the hope of a better opportunity elsewhere.
He explained why he's back on the campaign trail in 2010.
"Ohio's been good to me. I can be good to Ohio" said Kasich.
Acknowledging Ohio's problems can be fixed, though not easily, he said, "The first thing we have to do is we have to balance the budget."
The governor-hopeful is not in favor of special interest running the lives of residents and playing favorites.
"We need to make sure families get their money's worth," said Kasich. "Thank God we don't get all of the government we pay for."
Kasich pushes for trimming back government to make it more effective and efficient.
When this is done Kasich believes another benefit is created.
"When we do that, we can cut the taxes, which means you have more money in your pocket. Here's the beautiful thing about cutting taxes, you begin to lower the burden on small business," he said.
Kasich thinks the workers' compensation system needs reform aa there are too many lawsuits.
After hearing Kasich's spiel, residents reacted to what they heard.
Columbus Grove businessman, Larry Clymer, said, "He presented a good campaign on economics and that's what we need in this state ... him being a business owner himself, he knows what the problems are."
Justin Barnhart, a member of the Putnam County Young Republican group, liked how Kasich addressed the local needs.
"He talked about job creation right here to allow (college) kids to be able to come back home and live close to their families," Barnhart said. He'll help us get more jobs back in Putnam County."
Though some Putnam County industry has shut down, Barnhart believes white collar jobs are needed in this county.
As a young person, Barnhart sees it all too frequently that college grads don't come back to Putnam County to find employment.
"A guy like John Kasich realizes, that in Ohio, we need to bring students right back here."
Other Republicans, John Husted, candidate for Secretary of State, Rob Portman, candidate for US Senate, Steve Buehrer and Bob Latta were not able to attend the banquet.
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